


The Final Battle

by LovelyCrows



Series: The Final Duology [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Camp Jupiter (Percy Jackson), Canonical Character Death, Crossover, Dead Leo Valdez, Demigods, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Eighth Year, How Do I Tag, I've read Harry Potter, Jason might be dead, Leo and Calypso are introduced later, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter), Minor Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Muteness, Not Canon Compliant - The Trials of Apollo, Original Character(s), Paranoia, Partial Mind Control, Past Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Past Relationship(s), Percy Jackson & Piper McLean Friendship, Percy Jackson is a Good Friend, Percy is a Dork, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Pre-The Trials of Apollo, Sort Of, Temporary Character Death, The Golden Trio, Weasley Family, Wizarding Wars (Harry Potter), Wizards, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 85,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24918607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyCrows/pseuds/LovelyCrows
Summary: People are going missing in the wizarding world and not even Hogwarts is safe. With Sinister forces at play, Harry finds himself teaming up with a group of transfer students from America who somehow know their way around a blade. It seems like the fate of the world is dependent on the golden trio and the heroes of Olympus.Alas, things are proved to be a challenge as the demi-gods start disappearing one by one. With the looming threat of a spy hiding among the demi-gods, it's only a matter of time before everything goes to Hades. After an incident in the forbidden forest, the demi-gods find that even they might not be able to stop this mysterious group, which somehow they're always two steps ahead of them."Fate has terrible power. You cannot escape it by wealth or war. No fort will keep it out, no ships outrun it" - Sophocles.Takes place one month after BOO and five months after Harry Potter (Battle of Hogwarts)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Piper McLean, Annabeth Chase & Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque & Piper McLean, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Jason Grace & Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Percy Jackson & Harry Potter, Thalia Grace/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Series: The Final Duology [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1904503
Comments: 44
Kudos: 134





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-Posted from Wattpad. I'm rewriting the unfinished book here and completing it.  
> Some Characters are mine.  
> The rest of the characters & settings belong to Rick Riordan and JK Rowling.

_ **PART I - SONDER**_

_The realization that each passerby has a life as vivid and complex as your own._

_The moon illuminates the clearing in the woods, its light giving away the ethereal table below. If you look close, you can see the seats that line this table. If you look even closer, you can the space where the table hovers above the grass. Closer, you can hear the magic humming through the wood, as if the table's made from magic._

_Something special is going down tonight._

_Now shift your attention towards the table—or whats going to happen on the table._

_Figures wearing cloaks occupy the chair, most buzzing with anticipation. With hoods that cover their face, it's impossible to tell what expressions they wear._ _If they weren't wearing their hoods, you would see the look of caution and anticipation in their eyes._ _Braver souls in the group whisper to one another, their voices hush against the wind. The talking all stops when a shift in light makes the group members look up to the front._

_There's a new person at the front of the table, standing behind the golden lined chair. Their cloak fastens around their neck, their hood is drawn up to cover their face. Not even a hair slips out from their hood. A dark red strip of colour goes down the person's cloak, a sign of their power._

_Once the person makes sure everyone's gaze is on theirs, they turn around and walk for the treeline. As they walk, their cloak starts rippling in the wind, which starts picking up speed._

_The group at the table strain to see the figure walking away, their eyes curious. Some that are sitting beside one another lean in and whisper conspiracies._ _When the figure crouches down, their cloak spreading out around them, the wind dies down. Nature grows quiet, aside from the occasional noise of crickets._ _The figure shifts in their crouch, revealing a hole that's been dug into the ground, a pile of dirt laying nearby._

_A bony arm reaches out from inside the cloak, a blood-red tattoo, crudely drawn, inked across their skin. Depictions of a snake, different from the dark mark, coils around their arm. The snake rises until it reaches a couple of inches below their elbow. The snake's mouth is open, but nothing is coming out of its mouth. A dagger sits below the snake, a written sentence in Latin smeared above it. One word is eligible enough to read: Scurra._

_The tattoo gives a stark contrast to the milky white of this person's skin._

_The leader flicks his wrist and something—wooden—long and slender appears in his hands. Their fingers curl around the object, their knuckles whitening around it. They whisper something incoherent to themself and flicks their wand up. A minute later, a silver object lifts from the hole in the ground, taking a minute to appear._

_With the way the others are watching, this person must be their leader._

_The wind picks up a second later, whipping the trees around, making branches break and fall. The leader doesn’t notice, or they don’t care. They flick the wooden stick they hold upwards and the silver object follows._

_They start walking back towards the group, their movements slow. The leader shifts to the side, allowing the object to come into view for the other cloaked figures. The others strain to view the object coming into view. A moment later, everyone's able to get a good look at it._

_A giant rectangular box._

_The box is metal - and something else that none of the people there can put their finger on. The metal object—a trunk—has golden specks of light dancing across it, decorating the object. At the front of it, a bronze symbol acts as a lock, depicting a snake curling around a wand and sword. The others can only guess what’s inside the object._

_Everyone tenses as they see the leader approaches, their gazes wary. Some turn to whisper theories to one another, wondering what the trunk might hold. Ahead of them, their leader takes their time coming closer, the metal trunk doing the same._

_Some glance at the object with interest, an indefinable gleam in their eyes. Others glance with distaste at the object, not liking how they don’t know what’s inside it. They all know that something powerful rests inside it._

_To most wandering eyes, it looks nothing more than a giant treasure chest. To these people, they know exactly what is - but not what's inside it. Well, most don’t know what's inside it. It’s a type of object that can hold anything magical inside it. Whether it be godly essence, ashes of a powerful person, or a corpse. As long as the object or person has or had magic inside it. _

_To these people, it’s what an outside person can do with the object inside it that makes it important. With the help of the trunk acting as a conductor. The trunk is a gift from the god who bestowed them magic, though they can not speak the god’s name._

_The leader's voice, though faint, is still heard over the noise of the wind. The leader walks to the front of the table, their eyes taking in the presence of the cloaked figures. A smile curls on their face and they start to speak, giving away the fact that the person is male. “The goddess who has blessed us once has blessed me again,” the leader says._

_A couple of members give one another a glance as if to say, here we go again. One of the braver members stands up, towering over the fellow figures beside him. “How can we be so sure? You keep telling us this every time, but every time is wrong.”_

_Another voice, this one timid, says, "last time you said that you claimed that our goddess blessed Lord Voldemort. You said that he would take over the wizarding the world, claiming victory over the mudbloods.” _

_The first person who stood up turns towards the leader. Pulling up his sleeve to reveal the dark mark, the man sneers, "I joined him because of you! I nearly  ruined my whole life.” _

_The leader looked between him and the other voice that spoke and said after a minute, “you dare question me? The one who takes care of you, me who sends daily sacrifices to our lady?” The leader’s voice is soft, but the venom is heard. The man’s face whitens beneath the hood and says, "I didn’t mean that—“ _

_“Then let me speak,” the leader cuts in coolly. The man sits, turning a soft colour of red. Everyone seems to take from the example and remain silent as the Leader begins again. _

_The leader glances around the room one more time before finally saying,” she who is holy sends me whispers. Whispers about what is hiding behind our delicate ministry of magic.”_

_The leader stops for a second, waiting for the others to take the information in. The demigods in the group shift in their seats as if knowing what the leader is about to say._

_“Our God is not the only one. Gods exist, along with demigods,” the leader says. He stops and looks around at the group, "some of you here are demigods. You know who you are, and you needn’t explain yourself to me.”_

_At this, some people in the group start whispering to one another. They would look up, their eyes suspicious, and glance at other members. The leader ignores this. He moves on, saying, "our lady wants us, wizards and witches, to overthrow the gods. Along with some of their corrupted powerful spawns. She granted me the power to see into the future. I see fire, I see death, I see us overthrowing them. A being so ancient, the gods seem like younglings! First, we need sacrifices to let the ancient being free from its cage. We need sacrifices of Purebloods, Half-bloods, and Mudbloods.“_

_The leader finished his monologue, allowing arguments to break out. A group of, "purebloods, really?” and “what do you mean, ‘overthrow the gods?’ Finally, a louder voice rings out from the back of the group. _

_“Then whats the trunk for then?”_

_Under the hood, a cruel smile appears on the Leader's face._

_“I’m glad you asked,” the leader says, folding his arms underneath his cloak. “You see,” he gestures to the trunk, "we collect enough magic from wizards and witches and put the magic in the trunk. We wait until we get to the point where we can summon our god. Of course, we’ll need a powerful vessel to hold such magic.”_

_The Leader turns to one of the members, "Ashiva, you found the vessel, right?" His voice didn't hold any room for argument. "Yes, we found the perfect host. It took us a great deal to find them," came a reply from the left side of the table._

_The Leader's lips quirk up, everything is looking perfect now._

_One of the group member—one with a dark blue stripe going down her cloak—stood up and said, "so we need their magic? We don’t need to kill them?”_

_The leader lets out a small chuckle and says, "no, no. We need wizards and witches magic to help the god regain their magic. We need wizards and witch's deaths to summon the god. The god we are trying to summon is so old, we need blood to bring them back."_

_After a minute of whispering, a witch stands up and asks the question, "and what god are we summoning?” The leader lets out a small chuckle and says, "you will all find out in good time. Right now, I'll give you a hint, this god is the one who helped bring order to the cosmos. After seeing what the gods have done, they'll be here to stop them.”_

_He lets the thought settle with the other members of his group. After a minute of silence, he turns to one of the bull looking member of the group and says, "Ashiva, stand. Bring me the first sacrifice.” Ashiva nods and stands up, his cloak blowing in the wind._

_Most of the members glance around the room, whispering to one another,” is it going to be a pureblood?” One asked. Another one said,” nonsense. They would know that one of them is missing instantly!” The girl with the dark blue strip scowls at the two and says, "will you please be quiet—"_

_The girl stops mid-sentence and looks at the ground, "who’s kicking my feet?”_

_Ashiva glances at them and shakes his head. A moment later, he's crouching down, his cloak pooling around him. The grass crinkles as he reaches below the table to grab something—someone—and lift them into view. The girl with the blue stripe scowls when the person comes into view and says, "did a mudblood touch my leg? Ugh, disgusting.”_

_Ashiva gives the girl another glance before tugging the person into view._

_A minute later, a girl emerges, her mousy brown hair tied in knots. With ropes tied around her arms and ankles, the witch struggles in her bonds. Her wizarding robes are dirty with holes going through them. Her glasses are gone, thrown askew somewhere. When her eyes meet the other cloaked figure, her eyes go wide. A second after, her struggles become more erratic and Ashiva has to strengthen his grip on her. Her eyes finally land on the leader, whose hand is wrapping around a small but lethal blade._

_The witch lets out a muffled shriek and shrinks back._

_The woman from before peers down at the struggling girl and lets out a small chuckle. She looks straight at the girl and says,” darling, stop struggling. You're going to die either way - but you can make your death worse for yourself.”_

_The girl with the blue stripe leans forward in her chair and taps her fingers against the wood, "I do love to see people dying slowly  though.” _

_"Silence," the leader says vehemently, cutting through the night. The girl who was previously talking shrinks back into her chair and remains silent.“Stop talking to our victim and help prop her up onto the table,” the leader commands, making the closest group members stand to help. The leader watches with small amusement as the victim starts struggling once more. _

_The woman who spoke hesitantly stands up, no longer eager to speak out or do anything. With a groan, the girl stands and turns to help Ashiva._

_Ashiva lets out a muffled grunt as he shrugs the victim off and into the woman's hands. The girl grabs the victim’s wrist while Ashiva grabs the victim’s ankles and together, they shuffle her onto the table. When the victims back hit the table, Ashiva and the woman let go of the person's limbs. Before the victim tries to move, other group members surge forward and push the victim's wrist and ankles down against the table. _

_The leader starts circling the table and places his hands behind his back, taking the scene in. He turns to a nearby woman and says, "Nehemiah, status report.”_

_A middle-aged woman with a dark green strip down her cloak steps forward. “She works in the Department of Transportation and has no family members. Her family had been taken by snatchers or murdered during the Second Wizarding War. Staff are still unaware of her disappearance. My guess, we’ll have at least three days until anyone notices.” _

_The leader gives a satisfied hum and says, "good, good. To make the time longer until school starts at Hogwarts, someone will go in her place. Nehemiah?” Nehemiah bows her head and says, "it would be an honour, sir.”_

_“Good,” the leader says and stops his circling. He stops in front of the victim and walks towards her. The leader brings his dagger outside of the fold of his cloak and brings it forward to show the victim. The girl lets out a whimper and shrinks backwards, but the people holding her down stop her._

_Closer, the victim can see that the dagger is a mix of silver one side—and a type of bronze on the other side. A unique symbol is carved into the hilt, along with intricate patterns on the blade. To make the blade more beautiful, the moonlight seems to reflect off the blade. _

_The victim's eyes go wide at the blade and she starts struggling even harder. The victims had slipped through a wizard's grip and she slammed a fist into one of the group members' faces. The group flinches, let’s go, and clutches his hands to his face, groaning._

_The leader flicks his wand up and mutters a spell towards the girl. The victim immediately stills but her eyes are still wide and moving._

_“You are very lucky,” the leader amends, drawing closer to the young witch. “To not see what is going to happen on this earth,” the leader says. He wraps his fingers around the edge of the table and leans in to see the girl's face._

_“You will be the first of many,” the leader says, quiet enough so only she can hear. “Your death will not be in vain, the one we call holy will give you a nice life in the afterworld. The goddess of old will see your sacrifice and know you deserve to be somewhere nice.”_

_The leader brings the knife down to touch the witch's torso. He traces the dagger up to where her heart lies, "would you like to know what is to happen? Your blood is going to be drained until all is gone. We will dispose of your body soon after," he says, a frown lining his features. The leader lets out a muffled, "please.” The leader suspects that she meant to say ‘please don’t’ but he can’t show sympathy at the moment. _

_His goddess will look down upon him, wondering if she had chosen the wrong devotee to do her bidding. With a final look to the girl, whose eyes are screaming for help, the leader brings up his dagger. A minute later, he slams the blade down in the victim's heart._

_The witch lets out a loud noise from the impact, and the pain and her eyes look down to the blade embedded in her body. The leader watches as the girl’s eyes slowly stop moving, he watches as death comes to take away her soul. He watches as the starry night reflects into her eyes. _

_“May those who suffer find peace in the sweet release of death. May our goddess bless this one with a pleasant afterlife, or her effort be in vain,” the leader whispers. A minute later, he turns to the rest of the group,” take her blood and her magic.”_

_“We’ve got work to do.”_


	2. Chapter 1 - Attack of the beads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone needs to get to the big house...

**5 Days Later**

Percy's life had been a whirlwind since he was first introduced into the world of demigods. From the age of 12, he's been surviving by luck on a string, its a pure miracle that he's alive. After the war with Gaia, Percy had hoped that he wouldn't be dragged into anything, especially if it included the gods—and their problems. 

Someone else, hopefully not an unsuspecting demigod, can take the mantle with dealing with the gods. Besides, Percy thinks— _believes_ —that there aren't any more big groups of people or monsters that hope to destroy the gods.

_Looking back at this thought, I realize how wrong I am._

Percy sighs and dips his feet into the cool water in front of him. Around him, the sand dunes protect him from the view of any demigods.

The water in front of him laps at the sand and nips at his ankles. Closing his eyes, Percy leans back into the sand, listening to the sound of waves crashing down onto the calmer water.

He has four minutes until he has to get up—and meet Annabeth for cabin inspection. He's making these minutes count.

A minute goes by and Percy swears he heard his name being called, along with the sound of feet running over the sand. Percy tenses, his senses becoming keener. A couple of seconds later, a male voice shouts, "Percy! There's a council—" The voice trails off into a yelp as the speaker hits the sand. 

A groan is followed shortly afterwards.

Around Percy, the sand starts spilling, making grains of sand hit his face. Percy scowls to himself and opens his eyes, rubbing the sand away from his eyes. When he lifts his hand away, he's met with the blinding sun right above him.

Percy squints, immediately glancing elsewhere, which happens to be the face of another person. The person in question is open-mouth, his chest rising and dropping in erratic movements. 

Percy recognizes the face of Conner Stoll peering down at him, looking ready to collapse. 

"Sounds like you ran a marathon," Percy groans after a minute. Conner puts a finger up for a moment and turns away from Percy, making Percy raise his brows in confusion. 

He hears Conner suck in a deep breath, before exhaling loudly. Then, he reappears over Percy, his face red.

It takes a second to realize that Conner's pair is nowhere to be found.

In fact, by Percy's memory, Travis is a whole state away and is moving into his dorm for college. 

A smirk graces Conners's face and says, "heya Perce. Please ignore the fact that I'm dying." He glances down at Percy and sighs. "Some Romans are here for an important meeting with Chiron. It's so important, the hunters of Artemis are here. "

Percy knits his brows together at this information.

"How come _I_ didn't know that?"

Conner snorts and leans away from Percy's view. "No one wanted to bother you," Conner says and Percy can hear the smirk in his voice.

Percy stands up and turns around to face Conner, the grains of sand falling off him in waves. 

Conner offers him a look of pity as Percy's rubs his temples.

"Whats the camp meeting about?"

Conner shrugs innocently and says, "I dunno, Chiron hasn't said anything." He gives Percy a cheeky smile and turns around.

Percy raises his eyebrows and says, "then something bad must've happened."

Internally, Percy starts panicking. _Is there a threat to the gods? Has there been another prophecy? Is someone missing? Who did the gods anger this time?_

Percy opens his mouth to ask Conner _who_ was meeting in the Big House, but the son of Hermes is already disappearing behind some sand dunes.

Percy glances at the sky for a minute, imaging Zeus laughing down at him. _Do you think you would get a break?_

With a groan, Percy starts walking towards the Big House

* * *

If Percy hadn't been warned by Conner, he would have been thrown off his game. When he enters the rec room, he spots the seven, Reyna and Thalia sitting across the rec room. He almost does a double-take as he looks across the room.

To the far right of the room, Chiron sits in his wheelchair, a blanket covering his fake legs. A grim—and irritated—expression crosses his features as the centaur looks across the campers sitting down. Beside Chiron, sitting comfortably on a couch is Rachel Dare with a notebook at hand.

She glances up when Conner and Percy enter the room and waves her hand when Percy makes eye contact with her. Percy looks away from Rachel and takes in the room, looking at the Roman and Greek demigods lining the walls and couches.

The closest person to him is Reyna Arellano, her hair tied into a long braid. Reyna gives Percy a small nod when she meets his gaze. Beside her is Hazel Levesque, sitting on the armrest of one of the two couches in the rec room. She doesn't seem to notice the two new demigods entering. She's too busy fidgeting with her hands.

Piper Mclean is on the opposite side of the room, hiding behind the ping-pong table. Percy's half-surprised to not see the daughter of Aphrodite sitting beside Jason, who happens to be here as well. An irritated voice brings Percy back to attention.

"Alright, who keeps throwing— " Nico looks down at his hands, where a pile of beads from a bracelet lies, "beads at my head?"

He turns to Will, who seems to be holding in laughter. "Will—"

"It isn't me," Will promises. Nico's eyes narrow to the blonde but he shakes his head.

He turns his glare to the room, checking to see if anyone has an arsenal of beads. Nico's eyes meet Piper, who's still hiding behind the ping-pong table. " _You_ —"

Before Nico could say another word, Thalia burst into the room from the kitchen, a sack of marshmallows in her hands. Unaware of Nico's anger, Thalia says, "alright. Chiron said he wanted to tell us a story, so I brought us some marshmallows."

A look of relief crosses Piper's face.

Around the room, people surge towards Thalia and her bag of marshmallows, making Nico step back to avoid being trampled. Piper meets Nico's gaze across the room and starts grinning at him. Nico scowls in return.

It gives Percy enough time to recognize the other people in the room.

Jason Grace, whose still planted against a wall, is here. At the back of Percy's mind, he wonders two things, _isn't he supposed to be going to boarding school?_ and _Why isn't he and Piper together?_

He passes his attention to the other demigods. Clarrise La Rue sits beside Rachel, twirling her spear in her hands. Beside her is Annabeth, who's looking around the room for something. Percy grins and starts walking towards her. Annabeth looks up when she hears footsteps heading towards her. Percy can't help but smile when Annabeth starts smiling.

Across the room, other camp counsellors return to their seats. Clovis plops a marshmallow in his mouth and promptly falling asleep. Miranda Gardiner is sitting beside the window, her sister Katie gone to school, leaving her to run things in the Demeter cabin.

Nyssa sits down on the second couch, one hand with marshmallows, the other hand with some type of metal contraption.

Pollux is the last to return, his eyes glancing around the room as he sits on the second couch. A second passes and everyone is dead silent except for the soft snores coming from Mr.D.

Dionysus, the god of wine, is sitting on a chair by the far side of the room in a corner. Ever since he disobeyed Zeus, he was sent down to camp as their camp leader. A couple of months after the Battle of Manhattan, Dionysus had gone back to Olympus without explanation. Dionysus arrived two weeks ago, muttering about how he wanted to go back to Olympus.

Chiron studies the god of wine for a minute, taking in the wine magazine stretched out across the god's face.

"Let's just hope he doesn't wake up," Chiron suggests.

"Wait, so the gods don't know about this?" Percy inquires, an arm stretches out behind Annabeth.

Chiron inclines his head towards Percy and says, "they do not—and is important that they _do not_ find out about this." Around the room, demigods glance at one another, giving worried glances.

Chiron doesn't seem to notice and continues on, "Rachel has something to say."

Everyone quickly glances at Rachel, who jumps at the attention. "Uh.." Rachel starts to say, then shakes her head. "I had a... _weird_ vision last night. I woke up in the middle of the night and immediately started drawing. I wrote down some lines of a prophecy I heard during the dream. I only got two sentences though, which odd because prophecies usually aren't incomplete unless the future hasn't been set in stone yet."

Campers started glancing at one another, whispering to one another, " _what does that even mean?"_ Rachel lets the room talk to one another and after a few moments, she takes a picture out from under her lap.

She starts passing the photo down, giving it to Clarrise, who raises an eyebrow at the drawing. Clarrise hands it to Annabeth and both Percy and Annabeth glance at the photo.

The picture is of a school that looks rebuilt after a long war, with yellow light coming from the windows, and people in robes walking about. The artwork has been painted to make it look like the setting takes place in the middle of the day, as the reflection of the sun could be seen in the water along with the blue sky above. A sign that has been propped on one of the open the gates of the castle, reading "Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Percy hands it to Will, who shares it with Nico. Nico rests half his body onto Will so he can get a good look at the photo.

Annabeth takes a minute to start speaking, "Witches and Wizards don't exist. There would have been sightings or we should have at least felt their magic."

A couple of demigods look uncertain, some muttering about ' _no mortal knows that we exist' _and ' _is there going to be a war between us and them now?'_

Chiron starts talking before anyone could start panicking about a potential war that may not even exist. Turning to Annabeth, Chiron says, "most major cities around the room have a gate leading to the wizarding communities, cities, or ministries. The gates could be anything—a telephone box, statues— _anything_. More entrances glamour the gates so mortals don't go looking out of curiosity."

"Its like secret society," Percy explains, glancing across the room. "So that means the Illuminati _might_ exist, except they aren't aliens?" Piper question. a minute later, she adds, "they could be hiding anywhere..."

"Which isn't the point," Chiron says, giving Piper a glance.

Besides Annabeth, Clarrise leans forward, finally focusing her attention on the discussion. "If this is true, how were they allowed to exist? The gods would have seen them as a threat and would have killed them," Clarrise says, pointing out the obvious.

Chiron glances around the room, to the curious-looking demigods. "It's a long story," Chiron explains.

"We've got time," Nico says, leaning against the ping-pong table, looking annoyed. He glances at Piper once more, as if to tell her that he's still aware that Piper attacked him with beads. Piper gives Nico a sheepish look in return.

Chiron sighs and says," at one point, the heart of civilization was in Great Britan. During that time, Hecate had lost her torch, or shall I say, had her torch _stolen_.Demigods at the time were rare since most of them were being hanged for being a witch. Along with that, plagues were going around and wiping people out. There were some wars as well.." Chiron trails off for a minute.

"So," Chiron says again. "Hecate decided to look to humans for help. The other gods didn't need to know that she had to ask humans for help, it would be embarrassing."

Percy had a brief flashback when Hermes visited him and Annabeth for a quest to find his caduceus.

"She sent twenty-five humans to collect her torch, which they did with success."

A couple of murmurs could be heard across the room. _Why don't humans do it more often, then? They're less likely to get attacked by monsters._

"She had humans swear on the river Styx that they would not tell anyone of the god's existence. Of course, humans wanted something in return. Hecate told them if they returned alive with her torch, she would gift them with magic that would pass through to their children and so on."

"Hecate knew that some would not be able to use magic on their own so she created wands from magical properties. When the mortals returned with her torch in less than a week, Hecate was impressed. She gifted them magic and after a couple of decades, she saw what the new magic users were doing, so she started giving mortals more magic until mortals started being born with magic without Hecate's help."

"This went on without the Olympians knowing?" Reyna inquires, raising an eyebrow. Across the room, demi-gods voiced their surprise along with Reyna.

Chiron sighs and says, "the first twenty-eight mortals all have living descendants and they are known as the sacred twenty-eight. None of their blood mingled with mortals, so they get the name 'Pureblood'. Somewhere between those years, the gods eventually found out and demanded that they are exterminated. When Hecate didn't do anything, the gods started killing them. A family of witches and wizards came together to try to stop them, but the gods cursed them and killed the others."

"Hecate liked what she had created—her own civilization. She had to stop the killing. By now, there were well over 100 000 mortals with magic and 1/3rd were getting killed by the gods. Hecate knew that she couldn't avoid the god's command for long, so she created a special type of glamours that hid wizards and witches. She created pockets of civilizations. The gates of these towns would be infamous landmarks. Using the mist, Hecate faked mass slaughters of wizard and witches and well. . . the gods believed her."

"Wow," Percy says. "I didn't know the gods would go to genocide..."

Silence erupts through the demi-gods.

Finally, Will coughs into his fist and inquires, "how come you know her secret?"

"Hecate contacted me a couple of hundred years later saying that some witches and wizards are mistaken as demigods and gave me signs of what witches and wizards are like. She doesn't want the gods finding out," Chiron explains. "If they did come, I'd send them to Ilvermorney," he adds.

"So that's why you don't want the gods involved if they find out..." Annabeth trails off, letting everyone imagine what would happen. Chiron waits a minute before speaking, "let's get back on track before Mr.D wakes up."

At his name, all the demigods in the room turn their attention to the sleeping god, who seems perfectly at rest. Percy can't help but wonder if Mr.D killed wizards and witches. Somehow, he couldn't imagine Mr.D wasting his energy to do such a thing. Then again...

_Mr.D was also human when he first started out._

"I have another drawing," Rachel says a minute later, taking out another piece of paper. Rachel glances at it once before passing it down to Clarrise to start the chain again.

"A vision came along with it, but that one was a couple of days ago." Clarrise gives the picture to Annabeth and Percy leans onto her shoulder to see. A group of twenty or so people dressed in robes are sitting in chairs at a table, surrounding my woods. A person is lying on the table, blood erupting from their chest.

Percy glances away at the photo as Annabeth passes it on to the next person. "In my vision, the cultist people were sacrificing this person to a god—a primordial one—to make the god strong enough to rise, or wake up."

"How do you know that a primordial is rising?" Miranda says, glancing down at the photo in front of her. Rachel takes a minute to answer, "they said something about this god being as old as the earth—cosmos—so she's either older or younger then Gaia."

"That doesn't narrow it down," Thalia says. Rachel shrugs and says, "that's the only thing the leader of the cult said. I don't think any of the cult members except for the leader knows who the god is."

"Do they go after anybody in particular?"

"They don't really care about who they take since they need a lot of dead people to summon this god. I'm thinking so they don't get caught, they'll start with nobodies then rise up to Purebloods once they become confident enough since Purebloods will probably have a lot more magic then mortal born users. Or because their lives are a lot more public and people would notice when one disappears."

"Like celebrities, basically," Conner says.

"That makes sense," Piper says.

"What about the prophecy?" Nico asks, "what did the first two sentences say?"

Rachel glances around the room, taking in everybody's worried body language. "The first part goes, ' _Wizards and Demigods meet, to protect and serve,'_ and that's all I got. The rest had been blurry as if the future is still uncertain about the outcome."

Chiron looks around the room and says, "I can only send a certain group of people to go to Britan to find out what's going on. The one's going will go to a school called Hogwarts where you'll be taught magic along with teaching wizards and witches fighting techniques. I've already talked to the Headmistress about our negotiation. The mission will be to protect the students of Hogwarts from this...cult."

"Who wants to go?"

"I'm out," Clarrise says. "I'm going to college soon this year, and I don't want to be interrupted by going on a mission to protect other people."

Percy and Annabeth glance at one another, Percy trying to think about the future. _This doesn't involve the gods._ "We're going _next_ year," Annabeth whispers to Percy. "We have time to stop the cultist from rising an all-powerful god." Percy snorts and says, "we managed to defeat Gaia in a couple of minutes."

"I'll go," Thalia says. "Artemis is still up on Olympus doing gods knows what and I can put Phoebe in charge while I'm away," Thalia says. "I"ll go as well," Reyna says."We need to stop this god from rising," she says a second later. "I'm going as well," Hazel says. Then, this became a chain reaction of 'no' and 'yes's'.

Jason and Piper agree to go, Will and Nico had a short conversation before deciding to go. "We'll go as well," Percy says, gesturing to him and Annabeth. "There won't be a college to go to next year if the world is destroyed."

"I'll go to," Rachel says, "I need to figure out what the rest of the prophecy is and being at Hogwarts might help me."

"Alright," Chiron says. He glances at the ones who said 'no.'

"The rest of you can go, I have important information to share with the group, about a war that recently happened."

"You'll be leaving in two hours, so I suggest that you guys pack your stuff and get ready to go to school," Chiron says, two minutes after explaining the second wizarding war with the group of demigods.

"Two hours? That's barely any time!" Piper says.

"School?" Thalia complains.

"School starts tomorrow," Chiron adds. "You need to go to Diagon Alley, a wizarding town, to find supplies for school," Chiron says. He shifts his gaze to Hazel, Will, and Nico. "Hazel, since you are 14, you will be in your fourth year, along with Will and Nico. Everyone else is in their final year."

Chiron turns to the rest of them, "I'll send Conner to give your checklist for supplies to you. Go get ready." Almost instantly, everyone starts running out of the rec room door.

Annabeth stays behind and glances at Chiron and inquires, "Chiron, who are the purebloods at the moment? So we could keep a close on them."

Chiron grabs a piece of paper and a pen and starts writing something on it, "here's a list. Annabeth, some are in Azkaban, so you won't be able to reach them but keep a close eye on those Purebloods for me."

"Okay," Annabeth promises, taking the list from Chiron, and walks out the door. _Today is going to be hectic._


	3. Chapter 2 - Nico identifies as a goblin now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The demi-gods explore Diagon Alley and Hazel has a weird encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would have updated sooner but I was without internet for a couple of days :)  
> Feedback is always appreciated. 
> 
> This chapter is the longest I've written - 5320 words

The light that's shining through the burrows window woke Ron up. Harry wouldn't have noticed Ron rising if it wasn't for the incoherent sentences coming out of the redhead's mouth. Harry sighs from where he's laying, his back pushed against his mattress. 

He has no choice but to listen to his friend roll around in bed while groaning.

Three weeks earlier, Harry had been staying at 12 Grimmauld place, roaming around the rooms, occasionally watching Kreacher clean the house. Harry had been able to find some old pictures of his father and the rest of the Marauders.

He hadn't wanted to burden the Weasleys with an extra person—especially after Fred's death. So, a week after the Battle of Hogwarts, he left for 12 Grimmauld Place. A couple of days later, Hermione came to visit. The visits became regular and sometimes, she would show up with Ginny, who'd always prep talk Harry into doing stuff.

Now, Harry rolls to the side in his bed, trying to avoid the sunlight streaming through the room. Rons constant muttering is almost as bothersome as the light. Harry, staring at the wall, starts to recall Hermione's first visit to his place.

She had come in quickly and left within thirty minutes, claiming that she had things to attend to. With the short minutes they had spent together, Hermione explained that she had restored her parents' memories and brought them back from Australia, where she hid them during the war.

A week later, Ron arrived with some food Molly cooked for him. Harry supposed that Molly thought that Harry needed some time alone. Ron had given him an insight into what was happening between the Weasleys—and some of the outside world since Harry almost skipped over the Daily Prophet if there was no good news.

Ginny was one of the only reasons why he managed to get outside. Though caring, she had practically dragged Harry out 12 Grimmauld Place. She claims he needs fresh air but Harry knew there was another reason why. She needed someone to talk to about the war and sometimes, siblings aren't enough—especially if they're too busy grieving.

Part of the reason why he stayed in Sirisus's old home was mostly because of the daily Prophecy and other reporters (he's not being self-centred when he says this). About a week after the battle, the daily prophet and any other media would want his opinion Harry was too busy for. Sometimes, it brought some bad memories.

The first time he left 12 Grimmauld Place was to go to Fred's funeral—and every funeral after that. He would give his apologies to certain families and with others, he didn't _feel_ like he could do anything.

A week ago, Hermione appeared on his doorsteps with a note from Hogwarts, a grin dancing across her features, "Harry! We get to redo our final year at Hogwarts."

Hermione had been ecstatic, but Harry hadn't shared the same excitement as Hermione. He hoped that he wouldn't have to retake his final year even though he shouldn't have been so surprised.

During Hermione's visit a week ago, Ron had appariated at Harry's doorstep. He joined the two of them for a while before telling them that they had to go to the Burrow—there was an important message from _Headmistress McGonagall_.

Even now, watching the sunlight hit the wall in front of Harry, the words from the letter are still circulating through his head.

Some transfer students from Ilvermorny are coming here for a year.

In the back of his mind, Harry wonders whose parents would allow their child to go to Hogwarts after the war. Hell, a lot of wizards and witches _aren't_ coming back after the battle. Then again, Harry guessed that the rest of the world wouldn't be keeping track of what happens in Britain.

Minutes pass and Harry eventually hears footsteps approaching Ron's bedroom. Harry gets to his feet a second later, his bare feet hitting the cold wooden floor with a light thud. He pads around the room until he reaches his suitcase, which is stuffed to one corner of the room. 

As soon as his hand touches the handle of the suitcase, the door cracks open and Molly Weasley comes walking through the door.

Harry catches Molly's gaze and winces eternally as she turns to Ron, whose head is underneath a pillow. With a stern look to the pillow, Molly says, " _Ronald Weasley_ , you should be up by now! Breakfast is ready in the kitchen." She looks ready to continue berating her son but Molly catches Harry's eye on again.

They share a look before she turns her attention elsewhere. 

She turns and heads for the curtains blocking the sun. Ron let out a groan as light explodes into the room.

A minute later, Ron's muffled voice comes through with a groan, "Mum, you could have knocked, or yelled for us in the kitchen."

Molly gives Ron a long look and says, "you weren't answering me when I did."

She turns to Harry and gives him a small smile before walking through the open door behind her. She closes it as she walks down the stairs.

A couple of minutes later, Harry and Ron emerge from the hallway and into the kitchen.

The only people sitting at the table were Arthur, Ginny, Hermione and George. The three eldest brothers had left for work earlier in the morning before everyone had woken up. _If only they knew what was waiting for them when they return home,_ Harry thought, glancing at a scowling Molly.

Harry takes a seat beside Ginny whilst Ron took an open spot beside Hermione.

Molly Weasley hands Harry his plate of pancakes as he enters the room. Looking up, Harry quietly thanks her. A couple of minutes later, Harry glances around the room, the room uncharacteristically silent.

Harry supposes that it was the fact that they were still hit with grief—or the fact that there are fewer of them around. Then again, today Harry and the Weasleys are going to Diagon Alley to get books.

Tomorrow _is_ the first day of school.

Arthur is deep into reading _the Daily Prophet,_ his eyes scanning the front page.

It takes a minute for Harry to realize that Arthur was reading the headline as if surprised by what it says.

A couple of seats away, Hermione and Ginny share looks, occasionally whispering about something.

Opposite of Harry, George is dead asleep on his chair, head laying on the table, an uneaten piece of pancakes placed beside him. The past four months have not exactly been normal without Fred, and it had affected George the most. The effects could be seen whenever George is in a grumpy mood—or doesn't come out of his room.

Harry looks to his pancakes for a minute before picking up his fork. A second later, he starts eating, the sound of a fork scraping against a plate can be the only thing heard over the awkward silence.

A minute later, Arthur decides to break the silence. "Well, this is interesting," Arthur says.

Both Ginny and Hermione look up, breaking their routine glances. Ginny raises her eyebrows and asks, "What is it?"

She narrows her eyes at the newspaper, probably wondering what happened now.

Arthur sets the paper down, angling it for everyone near the table to get a good look at it. The Headline reads _Ministry employee goes missing, work of a rogue Death Eater?_

Molly appears beside Arthur and leans over to read the paper.

Harry joins in, his eyes skimming the first sentence before reading the rest.

_Aisha Silk, Age 21, ministry of magic worker (department of transportations) has gone missing. Officials say she clocked out of work on time but didn't show up for work the next day. No one noticed her disappearance until five days later because Adrilla Styles had taken over her position and will remain at that position until further notice._

_If anyone has an idea of where Aisha Silk is_ — _or knows about her whereabouts, please contact the Aurors because every minute counts. At the moment, the Aurors suspect the witch had been kidnapped by one of the rogue Death Eaters still on the loose._

_Remember, if you see a death eater, send a Patronus to a nearby Auror on duty. Do not engage with any known Death Eater. If you are housing any Death Eater, you may be sentenced to prison._

"Death Eaters still don't know when to stop," Ginny grumbles, the first to speak amongst the group. 

A second later, Hermione frowns and asks, "why would Death Eaters attack her? She has no family... and I hate to say this...Are they attacking at random now?" Hermione reads the headline again before sighing and leaning back into her chair.

"Probably," Ron replies, his voice muffled by a big piece of pancake in his mouth. Molly swats him and starts scolding him, "what have I told you about talking with your mouth full?"

Ron doesn't reply.

"Anyway," Molly says, eyes still transfixed on Ron. "You guys better get ready, we're heading to Diagon Alley to buy some books for your final year."

"I almost forgot that Ginny is in the same year as us now, since she didn't want to retake the sixth year," Ron says, looking up. Ginny scowls at him and stands up. 

"I'm going to get ready," Ginny announces and darts up the stairs. A minute later, a door creaks open and slams shut.

* * *

A couple of minutes pass and everyone is out the door. George had woken up right before they were leaving and decided to come with the clan of Weasleys, muttering about not wanting to be alone. Harry thinks it as a good enough excuse, seeing as though Molly positively _brightened_ by Geroge's 'declaration.' 

"Do you think he's finally getting off his ass and getting back to work?" Ron whispers to Harry. Despite the redhead's use of words, Harry can hear the genuine concern in his voice. 

George has still yet to go back to his store, and instead, lets Lee run it for a while. Lately, George has been doing, well, _nothing_. 

_I_ _t's better than keeping the store closed, at least._

Harry is the first to apparite to Diagon Alley, the familiar feeling of his gut being pulled towards something that doesn't exist guiding him.

A minute later, he appears on the road of Diagon Alley. A second later, Harry sees all the shops come into view, along with all the wizards and witches.

A minute later, Harry sees Ron and Hermione appariate beside him, their wands out. 

Together, they start walking through Diagon Alley, ignoring the looks they were given as they passed by.

"Where to first?"

**20 minutes earlier**

Hazel hasn't seen somewhere so crowded within such a small space in a long time.

Her golden eyes flicker across the crowd as she steps out of the shadows from one of the alleys between two shops. Everywhere she looks, Diagon Alley is full of people. Every nook and cranny is filled with someone. Hazel steps into the crowd and is almost instantly swept into the group of people walking through the streets.

Before panic could spread inside her, Hazel feels a hand grab the back of her shirt. A second later, Pipers grinning face came into Hazel's vision. "Thank you," Hazel says, feeling her cheeks warm. _I haven't been here for more than two minutes and I just almost got lost._

"No problem," Piper says. "I'm sorta used to these things," Piper says a second later.

"Oh," Hazel says. Hazel had been on the Argo II with Piper for 6 months and she didn't have the chance to talk to Piper. _Now I feel bad._

"So... what are we supposed to do exactly?" Percy wonders aloud, bringing Hazel away from her thoughts.

Hazel turns to the crowd she almost got lost in.

She takes in the wizards and witches, all of them casting fun spells on their friends, and their parents scolding them a minute later.

Hazel hears Annabeth say, "We go down the checklist Chiron gave us. We have to go to Gringotts first to collect money, afterwards, we go buy robes for social events—"

"Wait, robes—like Gandalf robes?" Percy interrupts, his eyes twinkling brightly. 

Hazel raises her eyebrows and turns to Piper, "whose Gandalf?" Piper turns to her, her mouth opens but closes it for a minute.

"I'll tell you later," Piper says, though her voice sounds surprised.

Hazel turns back to Annabeth, who sighs and says, "well, robes come in all different colours so maybe we might get to have Gandalf robes. Next, we're going to get ourselves wands. Afterwards, we get our book supplies and animals."

Annabeth turns to the rest of the group, "apparently, our cauldrons are already paid off for."

"After getting money from Gringotts, we split off. Hazel, Nico and Will are in their fourth year so they have separate books to get. Anyway, let's get going!" Annabeth says, her eyes searching around the place.

It must have been weird to see a group of teenagers emerging from an alley, all of them wearing 'muggle' clothes. Hazel understands the weird looks she and her friends are given as they walk through the streets. Perhaps it was Hazel's golden eyes, or Rachels bright red frizzy hair, or the shadows that seem to follow Nico.

Rachel is the one given the most attention, and Hazel doesn't have to think hard about why. The Oracle has frizzy red hair, green eyes, freckles sprinkled across her skin, and paint splattered across her shirt and jeans.

Some of the younger witches and wizards would walk by and would glance over their shoulders after the group walk by. Hazel supposes that they would be given way more attention if the demigods decided to keep their Camp Half-blood T-shirts. Luckily, Chiron had seen the problem it would cause and told them to change.

After a bit of walking, they come across Gringotts. Standing tall against the other buildings, the snow-white building of Gringotts looms over the demigods. Hazel swears that she heard one of the demi-gods whistling.

Hazel shares a glance with Nico as Thalia steps forward to open the doors. Thalia steps forward once the doors are open and the rest of the demigods follow quickly. Hazel follows the other demigods, unable to see a couple of feet in front of her over Reyna and Percy's heads.

She starts walking up a set of stairs until she—and the other demigods—are stopped in front of a set of bronze doors. On either side, wizards stand tall, eyeing the demigods warily. None of them stop the demigods from entering the hall though. The demigods take it as a good sign.

They enter the building.

Across the hall, Hazel could spot goblins sitting at their desks, unaware of their arrival. "There," Annabeth says, gesturing towards a nearby goblin. As they approach the goblin, Hazel could hear Percy lean over to Nico.

Hazel raises an eyebrow as Percy whispers to Nico, "hey, they're just like you."

Nico turns to Percy with a scowl, and says, "and where are the similarities?"

Percy smirks and says, lowering his voice, "you're both tiny and pale."

A look of surprise graces Nico's face for a beautiful minute before Nico abruptly thwacks the son of Poseidon on the head with his hand. Beside Percy, Annabeth rolls her eyes.

One of the goblins looks up when they approach, taking them in with caution.

"Okay, whose vault has all the money?" Piper whispers, looking across the small sea of demigods.

"Hazel does," Annabeth says, "Chiron said something about Hazel's family being closely related to Witches and Wizards."

Hazel blinks back her surprise at the mention of her name. With a glance at the others, Hazel walks towards the goblin. The goblin looks up from his desk, his beddy eyes glaring holes into Hazel. Hazel refrained from shrinking from the scowling face of the goblin.

Nonetheless, Hazel steps forward and says," Levesque vault, please." She looks up at the goblin and the two of them stare at each other for a minute, Hazel refusing to shift under his gaze.

Finally, the goblin says, "it's been a long time since a Levesque's been here. Then again..." the goblin once again looks down at Hazel once more, as if trying to see a resemblance between Hazel and her ancestors.

Hazel quietly stores the information away. At one point, her ancestors were witches and wizards. Perhaps even prominent wizards and witches (She wouldn't take it that far though). Perhaps that's why Hecate claimed that she had the potential to perform magic along with the ability to manipulate the mist.

Hazell snaps back to attention when the goblin slowly gets up from his seat and starts rummaging around his desk. A minute later, the goblin appears with a midnight black key and looks up at her, dangling the key in his hand.

"You know," the goblin says," the Levesque's were almost called 'the new reign of purebloods' because they were famous for their prowess of magic."

He starts walking out of his office and turns back to Hazel. "Everyone thought that the line went extinct after they all moved to America."

His eyes move to the rest of the group, a frown on his face, and says, "follow me."

Turning, he hobbles towards the carts at the far end at the hall.

As the group walks towards the carts, Hazel glances around the room and her eyes hook onto a man with long red hair walking out of a door, three scars splayed across his face, talking to another woman with blonde hair. For a moment, their eyes met before the man redirects his attention to the blonde in front of him.

_What happened to his face?_ It looked like he got into a fight with a wolf.

She shakes her head, ridding herself of the thought, it's _rude to stare._ She takes a step towards one of the open carts. It takes a minute of questioning if the cart is even. Hazel eventually steps into the cart, her mind still worried.

Instantly, Hazel could sense every jewel in every vault, locked hundreds of feet below ground.

If she reached out with her powers, she would be able to summon every jewel to her side with a minute.

After everyone is situated, the goblin walks to the head of the cart and says, "hold on."

Hazel only has a minute to hold onto the railings before she's being pulled underground. Almost screaming from shock, Hazel watches as the cart almost goes down a 90-degree angle.

For a moment, she is weightless, her legs going numb. A second later, her body rises in her seat and this time, Hazel lets out a small scream. When her senses return, she hears Percy scream in delight, "Is this what it feels like to be on a roller coaster?" His voice is distorted over the wind.

Hazel could barely hear him over the noise of the wind whistling past her ears.

The goblin peers back at the demigods, scowling at them. A second later, the goblin clicks his tongue as the cart comes to a stop. Hazel lets out a breath as the cart rolls to a stop.

Nico is the first one out, his legs steady and Hazel wonders if he even felt it. Nico turns around and helps Will jump out of the cart. The son of Apollo shakes slightly on his feet and looks at the ground for a minute. His hand reaches out and grabs onto Nico's to steady himself. Hazel doesn't miss the momentary tensing of Nico's muscles before he relaxes.

A hand appears in front of Hazel, which she takes quickly. With a hard tug, Hazel stumbles out of the cart, feeling her legs tremble a little bit. After a minute, Hazel looks up to thank her helper. Reyna comes into view, her eyes glancing at the room. "Thank you," Hazel says. Reyna nods at her before turning around to watch the goblin open Hazel's vault.

The goblin opens the vault without a hitch, not wasting a minute. The vault door creaks for a minute before flying open. Hazel almost trips over her own feet as she takes in the amount of money that sits in front of her.

"If I am to be exact, you have 83 164 galleons, five sickles, and 3 knuts. Collect what you need and be off," the goblin instructs.

So, she does.

She takes around 100 galleons, splitting them up with her friends. After doing so, the goblin closes the vault and returns to the cart where the demi-gods wait in the carts. Hazel prepares herself this time as she walks onto the cart, making sure her feet and hands are glued to the cart. As before, a second later, the cart shoots off like a rocket going into outer space.

Hazel squeezes her eyes shut as the wind rips around her body. When she opens her eyes again, she finds herself back to the top, the goblins in their desk came into view. Hazel lets out a sigh and climbs out without help this time.

The goblin returns to his seat behind the counter as the demigods and oracle exit the bank. As soon as they're out into the air, Piper smiles and says, "now that we have our money, let's get our supplies."

With that, everyone splits up. Hazel turns to her brother and his friend, "so, where to first in this wonderful place?"

* * *

The man who owns the wand shop is interesting, to say the least.

"What are your names?" The man inquires when the three teenagers enter the shop. The man's voice is halfway through the shop, somewhere down the aisles of wands. Hazel glances down one of the aisles but he's nowhere to be seen.

Behind her, Hazel can hear Will say," Nico Di Angelo, Will Solace, and Hazel Levesque."

The man appears a second later, his eyes dancing from Will to Nico, and finally to Hazel. "Hmm..." he says and turns away. He starts wandering down the far aisle, muttering something to himself.

A second later, the man comes back with four wands. "Try all these wands and say a simple spell like ' _Lumos'_ to see if the wand fits you."

The man hands Will the first wand, who glances at it suspiciously.

The man turns his attention to Hazel, his eyes glancing over her as if assessing her. "If I heard right, you're a Levesque? The last time my father gave a Levesque a wand was a little over 200 years ago. That was before the family set sail for America."

The man turns his attention on Hazel," Levesque? The last time my father gave a Levesque a wand was 200 years ago before they sailed overseas."

He shakes his head and says, "moving on." Hazel watches him go, confusion clouding her brain. _What?_

He walks towards Nico, his hand outstretched with two wooden wands. "Now, you were tricky but I believe I found some wands that might fit your needs. Try these," the man says. He hands Nico two boxes.

Nico pulls out the first one, which is rough in design. He sets the second box down and whispers the word, " _Lumos."_ An instant later, a bright light erupts from the tip of the wand and explodes the whole shop into blinding light.

"Ah, yes," the man says, taking the wand from Nico's grasp. "That might be a bit too powerful," he adds says.

Sighing, Nico takes out the second wand, which has nicer designs wrapped around it. He flicks the wand, whispering ' _Lumos'_ again. As soon as he said the sentence, light trickles out of the wand, shining the room up five feet in all directions.

The shop owner grins, satisfied with the choice of the wand, and says, "excellent, excellent." He takes the first wand and stores it away. "That wand you have in your hand is made from Applewood," he says, his voice getting further away.

He returns a second later, one wand left in his hand. Hazel opens her mouth to ask, " _what does applewood have to do with a wand_?" but bright light from the side of Hazel's vision brings her away.

Will's wand has a light at the end of the wand, which is slowly dying. "Yes, Alderwood, I was correct," the man says, a small smile on the man's face.

The shop owner turns his attention to Hazel, who is looking at the wand in the man's hand. "Try this," the man says, handing Hazel the wand.

"I suspect this might work—its the same wood as one of your ancestors. Its made from Cypress wood."

A second later, the man says," usually, the wielders of this type of wood die heroic deaths"

"Sorry for talking so much. Just do a flick with your wand and whisper the spell," he whispers. Hazel hesitates before taking the wand, her fingers wrapping around the sharp edges from the design of the wand.

Hazel flicks her wrist and says, ' _Lumos_ '. Light emerges from the tip of the wand and expands outwards for a minute before slowly dying out.

The man claps his hands, "excellent, excellent! If all of you feel comfortable with your wands, it will be 7 galleons for each of you." The man takes one last glance at the wands before walking behind the corner.

Reaching into her pocket, Hazel hands the owner the golden coins, which he takes with care.

As they walk out of the store, the shop owner waves goodbye as the demigod's exit the store.

"What next?" Will wonders aloud.

"What about robes? We need those," Hazel replies.

So they were off again, searching for the store over the sea of people swarming the streets. A little while later, they ran into Piper and Reyna, who were carrying twin Owls.

Black robes are wrapped around their arms.

When Piper spots them, she starts grinning. Then, she sees the wands in their hands. Once close enough, Piper asks, "where exactly is Ollivanders? This place is swarming and we've already got lost." Beside her, Reyna raises an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't call it lost," Reyna says, a hint of humour in her voice.

"Close enough," Piper grumbles.

Hazel lets them argue for a minute before saying, "go back a couple of stores, then turn right."

Piper gives a short thanks before tugging Reyna along.

Hazel and the group continue down the street until they make it to the store they're looking for. They enter quietly, making sure to not disturb other shoppers nearby.

"We need three black robes," Will says, his hand around a checklist.

"Did you really keep the checklist?" Nico inquires, giving Will a look.

"Yes. I don't want to miss anything," Will says, defending himself.

Nico rolls his eyes and the two boys continue to walk away from Hazel, their voices growing quiet.

Alone, Hazel looks around. Shoppers are nowhere to be seen and she realizes how dark and quiet it is inside the shop. Outside, Hazel can hear witches and wizards walking and running around laughing with one another.

"Do you need help, ma'am?" A voice echoes and Hazel jumps, her eyes going to the person behind the voice. Almost right beside her, a man looms over Hazel, a friendly but unnerving smile on his face.

Hazel glances across the room, taking her eyes away from the stranger for a quick minute. This person isn't the owner of the store, so who is he? Will and Nico have disappeared deeper into the store, and Hazel realizes that she has to scare the stranger off herself.

"Oh, no, I was just looking for robes. My friends are just a couple aisles away," Hazel says cooly, making sure to play it safe. It would be a shame to give away her cover before she even got to Hogwarts.

"Ah, I saw some new robes by this section," the man gestures to a corner of the store and Hazel glances suspiciously at him. _Way to be subtle._ Sadly for her, Hazel's eyes glance over the robes that the stranger had pointed out. As he said, they do look brand new.

"Thank you," Hazel says and starts walking towards the section of clothing and Hazel tenses when she hears the crack of floorboards behind her. Growing more anxious, Hazel barely glances at the size of robes as she pulls one loose.

_Small,_ good. She turns around to walk away from the corner only to see the stranger standing over her. "Get out of the way," Hazel instructs, her voice confident. _This guy is just a creep,_ Hazel reminds herself _not a monster._

The man raises his eyebrows and says," by the way you act, I assume that you're a pureblood, so you would be a perfect s-" Hazel tunes him out, noticing the tattoo etched across his wrist. A blood-red snake curled up and under his sleeve, with a word in Latin dancing across the bottom of his wrist.

_'Jack'_ what does that mean? Before she can think of it, a hand wraps around her wrist. Within an instant, instinct takes control, and Hazel rips her wrist away.

She looks up to see the man staring at her with surprise. Not waiting for the shock to lessen, she brings her knee up and knees the man in the groin. The man doubles back, his hands flying downwards. It gives her an opening and Hazel takes it.

With her palm open, she slams her hand up—into the man's nose—and hears a crack follow a second later. The man stumbles back, his hands reaching for something to grab ahold of. A second later, his eyes start to water and blood starts dripping from his nose.

She balls her fist and walks towards the man. The man watches her approach and hisses the words, "may our goddess avenge me if I die."

It clicks in for her and she says, "your apart of that cult, aren't you?"

The man's eyes widen for a minute. Then, he starts to get up but Hazel rushes forward and punches the man in the stomach.

The man sucks in a breath as his stomach retracts. A minute later, he lets out a pained chuckle and says, "you have no idea what information you just gave me."

Hazel's eyes widen and say, "wait—" but the person appariates away, leaving Hazel on her own. She looks around the empty section, her robe wrapped around her arm and wand stuck in her pant pocket. "Oh No. No, no, no. They know now."

A second later, Nico and Will round the corner, both of them with robes in their hand.

Nico glances at her, reading the expression on her face and inquires, "what's wrong?"

Hazel shakes her head and says, "nothing."

Nico gives her a glance but Will elbows him and says, "we have to pay for these before the owner kicks us out for standing here."

Nico shoots Hazel one last glance before turning around to go and pay with Will. With one last glance to where the man was standing—kneeling—Hazel walks after them, feeling uneasy.

The last stores went without any problem, and Hazel hopes that it has gone the same way with the rest of the demigods. "We just have to get to the pet store," Hazel says, walking out of the book store, her hands full of books.

"And where is that?" Nico inquires his eyes on the crowd of people.

"We'll just walk until we see it," Will responds.

"Then we'll be walking for hours," Nico says.

"We might get lucky— "

"We will not get lucky."

"Way to be optimistic."

"Thank You—Hazel!"

Rolling her eyes, Hazel walks into the crowd, listening to the quick footsteps behind her. Turning around to see where Nico and Will are, she trips into a person. Hazel jumps back, her head snapping forward, an apology on her tongue.

"Sorry," the plump and curly red-haired woman says in front of her.

"No, really, it's my fault," Hazel says," I was looking for my friends in the crowd and didn't realize where I was going."

The woman lets out a soft chuckle and says, "you didn't have to explain. Say, I'm also looking for someone—three people technically. They ran off from the group. They're here to collect books to retake their final year at Hogwarts."

"Oh," Hazel says, "well—" she stops when another redhead person comes into view.

A boy, around 17, appears beside them.

"Mum, I think I lost Ginny."

Hazel watches as the happy expression drains from the woman's face.

"Ronald— "

Ron looks at Hazel and his brows furrow.

"Who are you?"

" _Ronald Weasley—"_

"I'm Hazel Levesque, a transfer student from America," Hazel states, ignoring the suspicious tone in his voice.

The woman turns back to Hazel and says," sorry about my son—we just had a war and there have been disappearances around here lately. Everyone's still on edge."

"I understand," Hazel says, _I did just get attacked by a man in a clothing store so I get the feeling._

The boy, Ron, says," We got a note from the Headmistress saying that there were ten exchange students. That must be you and the American looking friends walking around, yeah?"

Hazel raises an eyebrow and inquires," _American looking_?"

"Its nothing," The woman says instead. "Do you need any help by chance?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for where we get magical pets."

"Just around the corner to your left, can't miss it."

Then, she turns to Ron and says, "well, go and find her, no matter what she groans about. There could be death eaters on the loose here."

Ron opens and closes his mouth before deciding not to bother.

"Well, if you need help on trying to find the platform, we'll be happy to help if we're there," the woman says before disappearing with Ron.

A minute later, Nico appears beside Hazel, Will close behind.

"Who was that?" Nico asked her.

"Someone who helped us find a pet shop—now let's get going before the crowd dense up."

With that, Hazel follows the instructions the woman gave her and started down the street. "What are you thinking of getting?"

"A cat," Nico says. "I'm getting an owl," Will says. "What are you getting?" Nico inquires, looking at Hazel.

"I'm thinking of a cat."

"Then let's get going."


	4. Chapter 3 - We're just discussing card games, no need to become concerned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also pretty long! As always, feedback is welcome.

Hazel, Nico, and Will all stand outside the doors of Gringotts—but not too close to cause suspicion or attention. The three of them all lean against the white wall, their eyes following the movements of the crowd as they walk past. 

Beside Hazel, Nico crosses his arms and grumbles, "if none of them show up in the next 5 minutes, I’m leaving and going back to Camp.” On the other side of Nico, Will rolls his eyes and says, “we haven’t even been standing here this long.” 

“That’s easy for you to say—you’re not the one carrying all the books.” 

Will opens his mouth to retort when Annabeth and Percy appear from the crowd, walking towards the younger demigods.

Both Will and Nico’s heads snap towards the couple as they step closer, a frown gracing Nico’s face as he says, “finally.” 

Hazel and Will both ignore Nico.

Annabeth looks up at Hazel and the boys and grins. She starts running towards them, momentarily forgetting about the books she’s holding. Letting them slip to the floor, Annabeth jumps back in surprise when she hears a loud thump on the ground. 

Percy snorts, one hand wrapped around the handle of a birdcage, and says, "Annabeth’s been like this ever since we left Gringotts.” 

Hazel knits her brows together and inquires, “what does she find interesting about this place?”

A second later, Annabeth appears in front of her again and answers her question, the fact that wood has magical properties amazes me, not to mention the fact that different types of wood mean different reactions to magic!”

Nico sighs, glancing at the ground and mutters to himself, “I shouldn’t have said anything.” 

Hazel laughs.

Will grins in reply and whispers, “careful—Annabeth might hear you and then she won’t stop.” 

Nico glances at Will and says, “thanks, you're going to jinx it.” 

Will laughs and says, “always a pleasure to help.” 

Annabeth stops talking for a minute and says, “what are we laughing about?” 

“Nothing,” Nico promises, “Will’s just very giggly today.” 

Annabeth narrows her eyes towards Nico as if challenging him before she draws back and glances at Percy. “My wand-type—for wood—is walnut and Percy’s is Rowan.” She glances back in the direction Nico and inquires to him, "what’s your type of wood?” 

Nico raises an eyebrow. “I forgot,” he says innocently. 

Annabeth opens her mouth to speak when Percy intercepts her by saying, Reyna and Piper are approaching. You can ask them”

All five demigods turn around simultaneously to watch their friends arriving. “That was creepy,” Piper declares loud enough for everyone to hear. A couple of wizards and witches glance at them as Piper's outburst startles them. 

No one seems to notice aside from Reyna and Hazel.

Hazel looks down at Piper’s hand and notices she is holding a cage with an orange cat inside it. Reyna also has a cat, although this one happened to be calico.

As Piper draws nearer, a young high pitch voice calls out, “Mclean?” 

Piper hesitates for a minute before turning around to face the muggle-borns walking hesitantly towards her. “Are you Piper Mclean, Tristan’s McLean’s daughter?”

Piper makes a small noise at the back of her throat, and Hazel wonders if Piper was hoping to not be recognized.

“That would be me, yes,” Piper nonetheless says. 

Hazel hears one of the young witches whisper to one another before one of them looks up at her. “I never knew you were a witch—like us,” one of them said excitedly. Hazel can see Piper wincing but doesn’t bother commenting as the person hands Piper a picture that Hazel can't make out. " Can you sign this? Please? No one will believe that you'd be a wizard.” 

“Uh, sure,” Piper agrees.

After Piper signs the picture, the witches disappear into the crowd, giggling with one another. Hazel looks up, watching the throng of people grow bigger, and realizes that some of the witches and wizards were looking at the exchange with confusion. 

_They don’t see that often, do they?_

Piper gives a quick glance around the crowd, her eyes searching for anyone else that might recognize. A minute passes and Piper bends down to pick up her cage before hastily making her way towards the five demigods. 

“That was awkward to watch,” Percy says. 

“It was? I thought it was just me,” Piper says. 

“Definitely not just you,” Reyna says, her eyes piercing the crowd with a heavy gaze. Nearby, the wizards and witches start to making a larger space around them, growing uncomfortable under the Praetor’s gaze. 

A second passes before Annabeth finally asks the question, “what type of wand do you guys have?”

Piper raises an eyebrow at her sudden excitement and backs away from the blonde. Shaking her head, Piper says, “what have you been taking, ma’am?” 

“She’s in awe—give her a minute to settle down,” Percy suggests.

Piper only shoots him a questioning glance before looking back at Annabeth and saying,” I have Poplar and Reyna here has…”

“Fir,” Reyna finishes.

“Why do you want to know anyway?” Nico says, his gaze dancing across Piper and Annabeth, amusement in his eyes.

Annabeth shrugs in response and says,” I'm going to borrow a book because based on what wood type you have, it describes… nevermind."

This gets her a few confused glances and Annabeth says, “ it’ll be too confusing to explain.” 

"What’s going on here?" Thalia inquires, making the demigods spin around. Behind them is Thalia, Jason, and Rachel, all of them holding books. 

Instantly, Annabeth turns to them and says, “ what wand-type do you guys have?”

The look of regret on Thalia's face is evident.

“How are we supposed to know?" Thalia asks, lifting her eyebrow.

Jaso rolls his eyes," I have spruce wood, Thalia has Blackthorn."

"Hmm," Percy says. “That’s interesting,” he adds a second later.

"Why?"

"I would think you would have pine... because . . . y' know."

"You have five seconds to live, Jackson,” Thalia warns. 

Rachel coughs into her fist, drawing attention away from Thalia and Percy.

“I have Silver Lime—which apparently works best for seers,” Rachel says as Percy gives her a thankful glance.

A second passes and Annabeth opens her mouth to speak, “the train leaves tomorrow, so let’s find a place to stay the night.”

Reyna raises an eyebrow and says, “if there _is_ anywhere to stay.” 

Hazel looks to Piper, whose looking around, her eyes moving along the crowd before they settle at a sign that says,’ _Leaky Cauldron—Pub and Inn.’_

“I think I found a spot,” Piper says and everyone turns to her.   
  


“Over there,” Piper says, gesturing to sign.

“You have good eyes,” Reyna says, narrowing hers to the sign.

“Thanks,” Piper says. Trying to not disrupt the crowd, the group started going off towards the Inn and in partners.

Hazel left with Rachel, who is humming to herself quietly. 

As they walk towards the Inn, a question forms inside Hazel’s head, ”do prophecies just come to you—or vision—or does something trigger your memory to make you have it?” 

“Both. Someone can mention something and I’ll have a memory or something might happen and it’ll send into a vision or something,” Rachel responds.

Hazel glances around the crowd, her mind going back to her fight with the stranger at the clothing store. 

“Say, in your vision, did anyone have a red tattoo around their wrist and arm?” Hazel inquires, turning to Rachel. 

Rachel hesitates for a minute, before saying, “yeah, _how_ —wait, did you see one of them?” 

“I think I got into a fight with one. He had a tattoo with a word in Latin beneath a dagger. It said ‘ _jacks’”._

Rachel turned to her and said, “that’s odd for it to be in Latin. I also think there was something written under the ‘leaders’ wrist. I think it had the letters...uh… _s c u r r a.”_

Hazel knits her brows together, trying to form the Latin word. _Scurra._ “Joker,” Hazel says.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Rachel says. “Jack… and Joker, what would that mean?” 

“What would what mean?” Annabeth inquires, appearing in front of them. Hazel and Rachel quickly glance at one another before Hazel says, “we’ll explain it once we all settle down—we could all meet up in someone’s room.” 

Annabeth raises an eyebrow but doesn’t bother responding. 

"There's something else on your mind," Rachel says. 

"Yeah... I mistakenly told him that we knew of the cult's existence." 

  
Rachel curses and bites her lip, thinking up something. Hazel's guilt drives deeper in her as Rachel shakes her head. The guilt grows deeper when Rachel doesn't respond, too busy thinking about something. _You blew the element of surprise for them. Hell, the cultist might go after them now._

Jason opens the door and all the demigods soundlessly shuffle inside. Walking to the front desk, the person behind it looks up and notices them walking towards them. Sighing, he grumbles the words,”whyda want?” 

“Rude,” Piper mutters to herself.

Annabeth raises her brows and says, “ uh... Four rooms for the night please.” 

The owner looks them up and down and frowns but decides against saying anything. Sighing, he says, “that will be 14 galleons.” 

He turns around to the wall where the keys hang and Hazel digs into her pocket and starts fishing for the coins in her pocket. The owner turns back to the group as Hazel drops the money on the counter. The owner nods his head and drops four keys on the counter. 

They make it to the top of the stairs and they start searching for their rooms. “Here,” Will says, near the end of the hall. 

They all stand in front of their rooms and Hazel hesitates. “Let’s get everything ready for tomorrow and we can all meet and Hazel’s room,” Annabeth says. Thalia knits her brows together and says,” why?” 

“I think they figured something out.” 

“They?”

“Rachel and Hazel.” 

Thalia looks even more confused.

"Thalia, Rachel, and I will share a room," Reyna announces, a key in her hand. At their names being called, the two other women come to stand beside Reyna. Reyna unlocks the first room and heads inside.

"Annabeth and I will share a room and Will and Nico can go in the room beside us," Percy claims. Then, he glances at Nico and Will and says,” no funny business." Will ears turn scarlet as Nico scowls at Percy.

"I guess that leaves me with Jason and Piper," Hazel states. Hazel hands the demigod’s different keys as they pair off with their group. Holding the last key, Hazel opens the door in front of her.

* * *

A knock on the door makes Hazel look up, her eyes glancing across the room. Jason had disappeared in the bathroom, claiming that he had to change into his pyjamas. Piper is sitting in the bed beside Hazel, her eyes on the book in front of her. 

Hazel sighs and gets to her feet and walks towards the door, making sure to take her time. A second later, she opens the door and is surprised to see the rest of the group standing in front of her. 

_Why are they all here?_

_Oh yeah. We said we would be meeting here._

Hazel opens the door fully, allowing the demigods to file in.

“Where’s Jason?” Percy asks, glancing around the room.

“Right here,” Jason says, walking through the bathroom door, wearing his pyjamas. Percy raises an eyebrow at him as Jason walks past Percy and onto his own bed. 

Everyone decides to find a spot to sit and Annabeth says, “ so, what did you guys find out? Is it of any importance?” 

“We don’t exactly know how to describe it,” Hazel says. 

“But,” Rachel says, “they all have red tattoos with a dagger on their wrist with a word written in Latin underneath it.” 

“How could you tell?” Percy inquires and Hazel hesitates.

“I was attacked by one when we were looking for robes,” Hazel says. From the side of her vision, she sees Nico tense with a frown appearing on his face. Beside him, Will draws closer and whispers something into his ear. Nico hesitates for a minute before whispering something back. 

“I managed to defend myself—but he ‘teleported’ away before I could catch him, and I uh, might have given out the fact that we know about their cult. I let it slip by mistake,” Hazel says, a sudden flush of guilt spreads through her and Hazel frowns. 

No one says anything for a minute so Hazel continues, a sense of unease settling through her gut. _Look what you let happen. Everyone's mad at you now._

“The Latin word was ‘Jack’ and Rachel says that the leader’s word was ‘Joker,’” Will says, breaking the silence.

“Like a card game,” Jason says, his eyes gazing around the room.

“It could be a form of hierarchy,” Annabeth reasons. 

“Then wouldn’t the king be in charge?” Reyna inquires. 

“Joker is more powerful, depending on the game,” Rachel says. “There’s also Aces.” 

“Say that there _is_ a hierarchy like that, what would the levels be?” 

“The joker would come first,” Jason says. 

“Then Ace,” Piper says, "depending on the type of game.” 

“King comes next,” Hazel says, wondering if she got that right. 

“Then Queen,” Reyna says.

“The Jack—or Jacks,” Nico says. 

“Those are a lot of titles to account for,” Annabeth says.

At this, Rachel frowns and says,” but there were only twenty at the meeting. That would be a bit much for just twenty.” 

“Guys,” Nico says, his voice quiet, “there’s more than one suit of cards in a game—there’s four.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

“It means,” Will says,” that there are twenty people in that group. We listed five rankings. There are four suits. Five times four is twenty.”

“It means that there’s more than just one group—there’s multiple,” Annabeth says.

“These are the most powerful people in those groups,” Reyna says.

“Who knows how many people are in this ‘cult,’” Rachel said. 

“We can’t handle more than thirty people all by ourselves because we don’t know a thing about this type of magic,” Annabeth says.

The room grows quiet but Will speaks up, “what about getting other wizards and witches to help? We wouldn’t have to explain _what_ we are to them.”

“We wouldn’t to cause panic,” Piper says. 

“Unless we find people that could handle it,” Jason points out. 

“First though,” Annabeth says, “we need to discuss what these titles might mean.” Rachel sighs and says,” Joker means trickster, right?” 

“This ‘leader,’ I’m guessing, isn’t just a normal joker. He’s the head of the whole cult. He’s the brains—the planner. He’s the one who leads them,” Percy says.

“Yeah,” Annabeth says. “So, maybe the leader might be different than the other witches. His magic might be different,” Rachel says. 

“What would that mean?” 

“In my vision, he says that ‘his goddess’ has blessed him. That could mean that he has magical power - your kind - or he might be able to see into the future. He could be way more powerful than any of us,” Rachel says. 

“Or he could be a demigod for all we know,” Reyna says. 

“This is going to be difficult,” Thalia says.

  
  
“He might be blessed by the god that he’s summoning,” Annabeth says. 

Beside Hazel, Rachel flinches. “What’s wrong?” Hazel inquires, something like dread rising in her chest.

“I—“ Rachels back straightens and she grabs Hazel’s arm harshly. A mist of green starts to pool around the room and everyone starts backing away. 

Rachel lets out a shuddering breath and says,

_“Wizards and Demigods meet,_

_To serve and protect,_

_To fight the god that has never been beat,_

_Beware, it is never the one you suspect—_ ah” 

Rachel collapses to the ground and Hazel and Will rush to her side. “Was that the prophecy?’ Reyna inquires, striding over to where Will and Hazel are. “No,” Rachel croaked, taking the hand Will offered. “It was only half of it. My mind is still foggy and I could feel the fact that the future is still unknown,” Rachel adds. 

“You might be a bit dizzy,” Will advises, his magic spreading out to Rachel, “maybe you should rest.” 

Rachel nods, her eyes unfocused. “That… felt different from my other prophecies issued. It felt like something was tugging at my soul, like a compulsion to stop looking into the future. I had this sense of dread in me, like no matter how many futures we may have, it was inevitable that we were going to do the wrong thing - and loose.” 

Everyone was still but Hazel can practically feel the panic and confusion that engulfed everyone. Finally, a little quiet, Annabeth whispers, “to make sure that doesn’t happen, we should try to figure out what the prophecy means.” 

“We have a few hours before we head to bed,” Piper says. 

“It looks like one of us _is_ ready for bed,” Percy says, glancing at Jason.

“At least I’m comfortable,” Jason reasons. 

Annabeth coughs into her fist and says, “the first one says ‘to fight the god that has never been beaten.’ We can cross some gods off.” 

“Like who?” 

“Gaia,” Percy says. 

“Ouraunus,” Jason says. 

“Achlys,” Annabeth says. 

“Technically, we _did_ beat Tarturas if you think about it,” Percy says. At this, Piper chokes on her drink she had brought in. “You did _what?”_

“We were able to escape him, and—“ Percy’s voice cracked,” Damasen and Bob might have beat them.” 

“At that reasoning, we would have beaten Nyx. We escaped in time,” Annabeth adds. 

“That’s still a lot of gods,” Reyna says. “We’ll have enough time to figure it out,” Piper says.

“But the next line says that its never the one you suspect,” Hazel points out. “It could be trying to throw us off,” Jason said. 

“This is all too confusing,” Thalia says. “We can all think better in the morning,” she adds. 

“I - I guess we can talk about this in the morning,” Rachel says, looking uncomfortable. “Then let’s get going to bed.” 

* * *

Leaving the three demigods alone, Hazel, Jason, and Piper look around anxiously at one another. “You know what, I’m going to have a shower before we head off,” Jason decides. 

“But you’re already in pyjamas,” Hazel points out and Jason shrugs and says,” its never too late.”

Jason turns his back to the girls and heads into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. 

Piper waits until she hears the shower going before turning to Hazel.

"What's up? You look a bit off," Piper inquires, coming to sit back on the bed beside Hazel. Hazel watches the daughter of Aphrodite pull the covers over her body. Hazel glances away, her mind buzzing. 

After the excitement about the cult wore off, Hazel’s mind resorted to replaying what happened at the store a couple of hours ago. A sense of dread begins to build up in her gut. _You might have ruined everything. You gave yourself away to them, now everyone's mad at me. They know—_

“Hey, Hazel?” Piper’s hesitant voice breaks Hazel away from her thoughts. “Huh—yes, what?” 

Piper frowns at her and says, “ you seem deep in thoughts. Are you sure your okay?” 

“I’m fine—just a lot of things have happened today,” Hazel says, her voice strained. _I should have reacted better against him._

“I’m just thinking about my ancestors and how they were wizards and witches.”

Piper raises a skeptical eyebrow at her and Hazel can tell that the daughter of Aphrodite knows that she’s lying and she tenses, ready for the accusation to come. Hazel’s whole body relaxes when she hears Piper say, “well, I did hear the goblin say how the Levesque used to be so powerful, people assumed they were pureblood.” 

_That’s not what he said, but it’s close enough._

_“_ If you need to be distracted by whatever’s bothering you, I’m sure you can find a book or ask around about the Levesque line. You might learn something important from it, and then you’ll be too distracted to worry about the other thing,” Piper says. 

“Perhaps I will,” Hazel says, a small smile growing on her lips. Piper’s expression changes into a bright smile and says, “that’s the spirit!” A second later, the two girls hear the shower turns off. 

“I’m going to get into the bath after Jason gets out,” Hazel declares. “Unless you need to change,” Hazel adds, glancing at Piper. Piper laughs and says, “I’m already changed, I used the bathroom while the group talked about the cultist.” 

“At what part? I didn’t see you,” Hazel says. Piper raises an eyebrow at her and says, "maybe I _should_ become a spy. I left right before you were about to say something, something about being attacked?” _Thank the gods she doesn’t know. When I tell her what happens, I’ll be able to explain myself._

“Oh.” 

An instant later, Jason opens the door and heads towards his own bed. Hazel gets up grabs a book from the pile of books she bought as she heads towards the bathroom. Piper raises an eyebrow at her as Hazel walks past to grab her pyjamas. 

“Gonna read while you’re in there?” Piper asks, humour in her voice. “Its a new hobby,” Hazel says on instinct. Piper laughs but doesn’t respond. Hazel heads into the bathroom and locks the door behind her. As she sets the book on the counter, along with her clothes, she turns to the tub. 

She wasn’t lying when she said she needed a bath. Plus, she plans to start reading an interesting book she had on her list - and she didn’t want to disturb Piper while reading it when they’re supposed to be asleep. 

Once the water was warm enough, she got in, taking the book with her. She’ll be able to relax while reading it. With her back pressed against the end of the tub, she looks at the book she has. Among the other books she bought: _Spellbooks, a history of witches and wizards, charms for your daily life, advanced charms etc,_ she found the ‘Defense Against the dark arts books’ most interesting. 

Hazel turns the book to the front cover. ' _Swordsmanship in the Wizarding World.’_ Hazel knits her brows together and open to the front page, to the table of contents. Reading through the chapter titles, she becomes intrigued by what the course has to offer. 

She flips through the first couple of pages, which talk about turning someone’s wand into a physical weapon, such as a sword, bows & arrows, and even spears. Apparently, these spells were ‘easy’ but Hazel had a hard trying to figure out the spell. 

Bringing out her arm, Hazel whispers the spell ‘ _arma’_ and flicks her wand. Nothing happens and disappointment runs through her. _So much for doing magic._ Hazel raises her hand, ready to try again, when she hears Jason call out,” Hazel, you coming out? You’ve been in there for a long time.” 

“Yeah, I’m coming,” Hazel yells. She looks down at the book in her hands and sighs. Standing up, she closes the book and gets dressed for the night. She opens the door and walks out, her book in her arms. 

* * *

In Hazel’s bed, Piper lies to one side, her head propped against a pillow with a book in her hands. The title says, ‘ _simple beginner spells.’_ Piper looks up to meet her gaze and winks at her and says,” yeah, I know. We have to learn the simple spells first before we move onto the advanced ones.”

“I didn’t think of that,” Hazel says, going to her suitcase. “Then I’m sure you’re glad I’m here,” Piper says. 

Hazel leans down and stuffs her book into her suitcase and zips the suitcase back up. Looking up, she sees Jason laying on his side, hugging a pillow. Hazel sighs and collapses on the bed, letting sleep take over. 

**30 Minutes later**

The woman steps into Diagon Alley, her heels clicking against stone. She flicks her wand and her hood drops to her shoulder, giving away to a tightly knit braid draped across her shoulder. The woman looks down at herself, at her black heels and black cloak and smirks. _At least I’m not conspicuous._

She saunters down the road confidently, passing last-minute stragglers trying to get home. She turns a corner and walks into a nearby store. She can hear her leader’s rough voice in her head, whispering the praises of the blessed twenty. 

_Do you want this title? Do you want to sit with the blessed?_

She recalls kneeling at the time, kneeling at the leader’s feet, her eyes glued to his pristine boots. She had closed her eyes, letting the leaders slender fingers touch her forehead. She had tried opening her mouth, to tell him how appreciative she was to be in his presence but the leader had whispered,” _then bring me the one who you hold dear.“_

The woman’s mouth had gone dry, her throat closing up at the words.

“ _Will you do it?”_

“My lord,” the woman had uttered. “She is pureblood—people will notice her disappearance,” she says, her voice straining to stay straight. The lord hadn’t said anything for a minute, and the woman shudders. Her fingers start to tremble as her mind starts to worry if she had angered her lord. 

Finally, the Lord spoke, his voice low and carefully controlled, the twenty have all sacrificed something important to get where they are now.” 

“The reason why you’re getting this new position is that one of our own failed to do his job as a Jack. He couldn’t handle what he was made to do.” The lord’s hands drop to the woman’s chin, who shivers instinctively.

“It showed our goddess that he is not _willing_ to do something for her. We need people who are willing to do anything for her. Do you wish to anger her?” 

“No, my lord,” the woman says, resisting the urge to shake her head. A second later, her chin is being lifted and the woman closes her eyes, knowing the rules she had grown up with. _Do not look at him if you want to live. They say that he was hexed when he was a child, making his face unbearable to look at to the point where anyone who looked at him would die from shock._

“Then,” came the lord’s cold voice, “open your eyes and swear to me that you will bring her here to be sacrificed to our goddess.” The woman hesitates, _is this a trick?_

“If you cannot even look at me, then how will you look at our goddess when she arrives? Everything is inevitable, and sometimes, you have to face fate before fate faces you,” the leader says.

The woman lets out a shuddering breath against the quiet night. Her friends, family, and members of her group have all told her not to look at him. _When have I ever listened to them?_

The woman opens her silver eyes, determination stirring inside her like a fire. 

Golden and silver eyes. 

That’s her last thought before her body locks up.

_No._

_I do not wish to die. Do not panic. Death is inevitable, but it won’t be today. Prove yourself._

She steels her gaze to his, ignoring the pained cries her body gives her. She cannot see the rest of the face, her eyes can only see the golden and silver eyes in front of her. After what feels like hours, the lord turns around.

The woman lets out a soft gasp and her limbs become liquid. She falls to the ground, her whole body going into minute-long shudders. A voice above her, she couldn’t tell, whispers to her,” _get the job done.”_

Now, she stands in the store of one of her best friends, one that is not apart of her group. Her hands turn white as she grasps onto her wand tightly. She closes her eyes as she starts walking towards the woman at the counter. 

“Shafiq,” she calls out. The woman looks up and a grin spreads across her face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first, I wondered if I gave too much away then I realized you guys still don't know who the old god they're trying to wake up is - or who any of the cultists are.
> 
> Do you guys enjoy the cultist POV or no? I enjoy writing those parts.
> 
> If any of you guys are confused with the card game thing, just tell me. I'll be happy to help


	5. Chapter 4 - Harry Potter and the weird obsessions for tattoo's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the last chapter, I wrote the roots of Hazel's character Arc that should last around 10 - 20 chapters (depending on how many chapters I dedicate to her) and today I'm putting in the roots for Annabeth's and Pipers character arcs. 
> 
> If you're from Wattpad, I decided to change Mrs. Niles's character around. I noticed how there weren't many POC in Harry Potter and decided I should add more.
> 
> I noticed the last name 'Shafiq' doesn't sound British and what did I find out? It's Arabic. So I tried my best to find a good Arabic first name since there weren't many references to the last name in Harry Potter.

Piper’s body jerks up in her bed, her skin covered with goosebumps. Her eyes glance across the room as she lets out a shuddering breath. Beside her, Hazel is laying on her side, facing the opposite of Piper. Piper’s eyes narrow, unable to see past the bed because of the darkness. 

Rubbing her head, Piper swings her feet over the side of the bed. When her feet touch the cold wood, flashes of her dream come back to her. Strangely, she’s unable to remember her dream.

Piper gets to her feet, the cold floor creaking under her weight. _It’s probably nothing important then._

_What woke her up?_ Looking around, her eyes land on the clock on the counter between the two beds. 

She steps towards it, the glow of the number blinding her. Putting her hands up to shield herself, she spies the number through her fingers. _7:00 AM._ “I guess I should be getting ready,” Piper whispers to herself. As she turns away, she catches the smell of smoke.

A look of surprise crosses her face and she turns back around. Her eyes latch onto the light streaming through the window underneath the curtain. Piper hesitates for a minute before lightly making her way towards the window, the floor creaking under her. 

She moves the curtain away and immediately, light erupts into the room, temporarily blinding her. Behind her, she hears Hazel groan. Piper’s vision returns a second later and she blinks away the tiny dots across her vision. Piper’s eyes narrow onto the streets of Diagon Alley. 

Her eyes follow the movement of a small crowd up until she sees a fire overtaking a crumbling building. Her eyes follow the fire, which turns to smoke that covers the sky. “Pipes?” She hears Jason’s groggy voice come from behind her. Piper jumps and spins around, the curtain returning to its place. “Yeah?” 

“What’re you doing?” 

“Getting ready,” Piper says,” its 7:00.”

Jason doesn’t respond so Piper believes that he’s satisfied. Now facing the darkness, she starts to stumble through the room, unable to see anything after looking at the blinding light outside. Piper hits something hard and Piper looks down, her eyes following the outline of a suitcase. She looks behind her to see Hazel’s suitcase propped against the bed.

_Okay, so this one over here is mine._

Reaching down, her fingers find the zipper and she gives a slight tug. The zipper doesn’t move. As she grabs the zipper once more, she hears a crash, followed by an ‘ _ow_ ’ coming from the hallway. 

It triggers something inside her brain. Something from her dream.

Something, _blood,_ flashes in her vision and Piper collapses backwards, her back slamming into the bed. Piper lets out a small gasp, going unheard to the others in the room. She can hear Jason getting into a sitting position and can practically _feel_ his concern.

“Percy,” came an exasperated sigh from the hallway.

“I blame this on you,” came Percy’s voice, "you’re the one who woke me up early.”

Annabeth’s reply came fast, "maybe we want to look presentable to the others.”

Percy just lets out a long sigh, as if knowing arguing with Annabeth was a lost cause.

Piper’s hand return to her zipper as she hears someone step onto the floor. Peering behind her, Piper spots Jason grabbing his uniform that’s laying on top of his suitcase. The two of them make eye-contact for a minute. Jason breaks away and starts walking past her and into the bathroom. Piper does her best to ignore him.

As soon as Jason closes the door, the door leading to the hallway bursts open and Piper nearly jumps out her skin.

Annabeth walks through the door, her grey eyes taking in the room. Piper looks down from Annabeth's face to see her wearing her school uniform, with her robes hanging from her arm. 

From above her, she hears Hazel groggy voice says, “how’d you get in here?” Piper’s lips quirked upwards and think, _that’s a good question._

“And why are you here?” Piper adds and she looks back down at her suitcase.

She tugs at the zipper and starts unzipping it. A second later, the suitcase opens.

Annabeth looks between the two girls and says,” we need to get ready—you three are the last awake. The train leaves at 11 and we’re leaving in thirty minutes.” 

“Ah, Annabeth?” Piper asks, her hands reaching for her uniform.

“Yes?” 

“You do realize that it’s 7:00, right?” 

“Your clock is broken,” Annabeth says. “I have my phone with me, just in case of an emergency.”

“You didn’t answer how you managed to get in here,” Piper says and Annabeth groans.

“Have you not read the spellbooks? I used _Alohomora_ to open the lock. Good thing I did or you would be racing to get ready,” Annabeth explains. 

“You could have told us _outside_ the door, you know that, right?” 

Annabeth doesn’t respond and Piper grins.

“Or were you trying to create an excuse to use a spell?” 

“Perhaps,” Annabeth says and Piper can hear the smile in her voice.

Across the hallway, Percy’s panicked voice came into range, “uh, Annie? Have you seen Marina? I can’t find her.”

Annabeth’s brows squish together as she inquires, “how do you lose an owl that’s in a cage?” Percy doesn’t respond for a moment, but Piper can hear his feet thundering in his room, trying to locate the missing owl. He nervously replies with, “um.”

“Fun story,” Percy says. Piper grins at his response and she looks up to see Annabeth’s face turn unreadable. She turns around and walks out of the door, closing it behind her as she says, “I swear to the gods.”

A second later, Jason exits the bedroom, a small smile on his face. Piper is tempted to ask him what he did but decides against it. If Jason _did_ have something to do with the missing bird, and Piper knew, she had a feeling Annabeth was going to give her a scolding she wouldn’t forget.

Instead, she grabs her clothes and heads into the bathroom. In short form, she changed into her uniform, which is a bit itchy. Then, she braids her hair. She proceeds to brush her teeth and grab her robes off the counter, deciding not to wear them. 

Walking out into the room, she stumbles into Hazel, who jumps at the sight of her.

“Sorry,” Hazel says and races into the bathroom that Piper had come out of. Piper frowns at the closed door in front of her, wondering what’s wrong with the daughter of Pluto. Somethings obviously bothering her, but Piper can’t just place whats wrong.

Piper walks into the hall, where most of the demigods are waiting. Nico and Will are standing side by side, with Reyna a couple of feet from them, glancing at them with an amused smile. Curiously grows within her and she starts walking towards Reyna when one of the doors opens and Annabeth and Percy walk out.

Annabeth’s expression is one of surprise and half-amusement. Percy, on the other hand, looks sheepish. “What happened?” Piper inquires, glancing between the two of them.

“Ah,” Percy says, "let’s just say the owner may or may not need to get new curtain.” 

Piper’s brows shoot up and she glances between the two of them and she notices the birdcage, with the owl inside, hanging from Percy’s hands. At least they got the owl back inside the cage.

“Then we better get moving,” Hazel says, walking out into the hallway.

“Lets,” Percy agrees.

They make their way towards the stairs and they hear the sound of roaring laughs and happy chatter come from downstairs.

“They’re probably celebrating the fact that their children are going away for a whole year,” Rachel says as they head down the stairs.

“I would too,” Thalia replies in short, “imagine having a kid who could set your whole house on fire with a flick of a wand?” 

“If they’re powerful enough, they wouldn’t need a wand,” Annabeth says in reply and Piper’s mind immediately goes back to the fire a couple of blocks away. _Did someone lose control of their magic?_

When they enter the dining area—if you could call it that—they head towards the owner, who is fortunately behind the counter.

Along the way, Piper can hear the whispers from some of the people. She hears one of the people say, ”d _id you hear about the fire that destroyed the building?”_

_“Yeah, I heard it belonged to one of Kahlil Shafiq’s daughter,”_ another replied. 

_“People say she tried to ki—”_

Another flash from her dream appears; _gold pours from the chest, a fic—_ Piper shudders and tries to focus on the conversation. She considers herself lucky that no one seems to notice Piper's sudden shuddering.

_“Have they found her yet?”_ The other one cuts the person up.

“ _No. Conspiracists say that its the work of a death eater.”_

Piper raises an eyebrow, _what’s a death eater?_

“ _Bah,”_ the other says loudly.

“ _They’re just trying to scare us. Reporters say that the fire started from a fireplace. Besides, why would a death eater go after a pureblood?”_

The other didn’t respond. 

_I know who would though,_ Piper thinks grimly. Another attack from the mysterious people—which Piper refers to as ‘the cult.’ _If they’re getting this bold, then we better be on high alert when we get to Hogwarts._

The owner behind the counter gives the demigods a once over before sighing and taking the keys. They turn and walk out of the inn and into the busy street in front of them. “We won’t reach the train in time,” Annabeth says, her voice giving away to slight panic. Piper peers over her shoulder to see Annabeth looking down at her phone.

Nico rolls his eyes and says, “I can shadow travel us there. Before you say _anything_ Will, I’ve gone a full month without shadow travelling. I won’t collapse if I use my magic.” At this, Will opens and closes his mouth, as if he’s unsure how to respond. 

Instead, Reyna says, “we can’t exactly just shadow travel in front of the wizards and witches.” Nico replies, “we can find somewhere secluded—where no one will notice us.”   
  


“How about there?” Rachel inquires, gesturing to a dark alley covered by shadows.

“That will do,” Nico says and he guides them towards the alley. As soon as everyone is in the alley, Nico grabs ahold of Will’s hand and Reyna’s wrist and its a chain reaction of everyone grabbing onto one another.

"You might feel sick,” Nico advises. Piper opens her mouth to say something but she’s flung into darkness before she could utter a word. Piper’s stomach lurches and her hands grow clammy as her grip loosens on the hands holding her. _One thing is for sure_ , Piper thinks, _that’s she’s never going to shadow travel ever again._

She realizes that 'you might feel sick' does not prepare you _at all_ for what happens when you shadow travel.

Then, the shadows disperse, leaving the demigods confused and stumbling into Kings Cross Station. Piper is the first to recover and glances around at the different platforms. Truth be told, she’s never really been to any train station that she could visibly remember but she’s certain that there aren’t any quarter stations. 

“Where’s the platform, isn’t it supposed to be 9 ¾ ‘s?” Thalia’s voice rings out through the group as they walk towards the platforms between and 9 and 10. “It could be a form of magic, like a passageway. I read it somewhere in one of the books,” Annabeth says. 

“What would we do without you, Wisegirl?” Percy says, his eyes trailing the people heading in different directions.

“Is it just me,” Rachel says suddenly, drawing attention to her, “or are those people running into that wall?”

Everyone turns their heads to where Rachel is looking and by magic, there seem to be people running through a wall.

“It must be there,” Annabeth says. Piper’s eyes trail a boy with black hair—nearly the same as Percy’s—run through a brick wall. None of the mortals seem to notice the unusual event, and the people that accompanied the boy didn’t even blink an eye.

“I saw her at Diagon Alley,” Hazel says, popping up beside Piper, who jumps.

“Where did you come from?” Piper questions quietly and Hazel laughs and says, “the pro’s of being short.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out if its the way to the train,” Reyna says. Before anyone can stop her, the daughter of Bellona strolls over the older woman, who’s probably the mother. 

The mother’s eyes are on the girl with long red hair, who is preparing for her run across. A short second later, the girl disappears into the platform.

The demigods follow Reyna, albeit at a slower pace. “Excuse me. Ma’am, but is this place,” Reyna waves her hand vaguely at the wall the redhead had just gone through. Apparently, Reyna forgot what it's called.

The mother smiles at her and says, “the entrance to platform 9 ¾?” Reyna nods and says, "thank you. We’re a bit confused.”

Beside Percy, Annabeth lets out a breath of relief - they found the station in time. The other demigods make it to Reyna, who’s looking at the wall in confusion and suspicion. The mother turns to a younger man with red hair and says, “Ron, will you show them the way through? I’m sure you want to, dear.” 

“Sure, Mum,” Ron says, looking a bit tired.

The mother turns to the demigods and says, “now, all you have to do is watch him. If you feel nervous going through, just run more confidently through. Go ahead, Ronald.”

Ron makes a noise at the back of his throat at the use of his full name in front of a bunch of strangers. Without glancing behind him, his fingers wrap around the cart he holds and he rams into the wall. Piper spots Annabeth flinch from where she stands and Piper can understand why. 

“It still feels like its the first time seeing your kid go through,” the mother says. She glances back at the demigods and says, “now your turn dear.” Reyna knits her brows together and glances once at the wall before sighing. “Thank you, miss…” Reyna trails off, unsure of what to call her. 

“Weasley,” the woman replies kindly. Reyna thanks her again and turns back to her cart. Her eyes narrow towards the wall for a minute before taking the cart in both hands. Before she can think about what she’s about to do, Reyna runs towards the wall. She goes straight through it. 

“She didn’t even look scared,” a boy says from behind Mrs. Weasley. The boy—around his early twenties—holds two pages of paper in his hands, and he’s missing— _he’s missing an ear._ Piper forces herself to look to Mrs. Weasley, who looks like she’s seen a ghost. 

Mrs. Weasley glances back at her son, her mouth pursed, looking ready to berate him for either disappearing and appearing suddenly, or for scaring her. For the boy’s credit, he didn’t look scared under his mother’s glance.

Piper looks back at the group of demigods only to find some are missing. “Where’d the others go?” Annabeth turns to her and says, “most of them went through already, not wanting the nerves to get the best of them.” Piper frowns and turns her attention to Hazel and Rachel, who eyes the wall skeptically. 

Piper sighs and says, “ it looks like they aren’t willing to go just yet, so I guess that means that _I’m_ going.” Not letting herself be distracted, she grabs the handles of the cart and runs through the wall. She tenses as she finds herself on the other side, onto to platform 9 ¾s.

Sighing, Piper walks towards the train, watching some of the muggle-borns doing double-takes as she walks by. She glances at the entrance of the train, then her cart in front of her. “I’m guessing that you leave this behind,” Piper mutters to herself. 

Without taking a look behind her, she steps onto the train. She grabs the door leading to one the aisles and opens it. She steps through and the sound of chattering students and the smell of something burning can be found. She starts walking down the aisle, her eyes glancing through the windows to the people aboard the train already. She passes a kid who’s robe is on fire and is yelling spells to try to disperse the flames. 

She passes windows that had people playing board games, eating snacks if their life depended on it and kids who look like they’re going to throw up. In all, most of the seats are filled to the brim with people and those that aren’t—well, they look they needed time alone and Piper didn’t have the heart to bother them. Especially if she was supposed to have to be in the same spot for the whole train ride. 

Eventually, she makes it to the end of the aisle and glances through one of the windows. A girl with short black hair and a boy with slicked-back blond hair sitting across from each other, look bored out of their minds. Piper glances between this door and the other doors before sighing to herself. _She hasn’t been this unsure in her life._

She hears Chiron’s voice in her head, saying,’ _protect the students. That is your mission. Befriend them too. They’ll be looking for purebloods to take.”_ Judging by the way they look and act (and sitting alone), it seems to Piper that these two kids are Purebloods. 

Rolling her shoulders back, she opens the door and two heads snap up in her direction.

“Mind if I sit here?” Piper asked innocently, _I am not going to leave if they say no. There’s nowhere else to sit._ Both of them glance at her as if she has amnesia. 

“Do you know who we are?” The blond inquires and by the tone of his voice, Piper guesses he’s rather shocked than appalled. “Nope,” Piper says and she brings out her hand, “Piper McLean, I’m a transfer student from Ilvermorney.” 

A shift from the boy gives away a dark tattoo inked into his skin at his arm. _Are wizards and witches not supposed to have a tattoo? Is it against their religion or something?_ “Besides,” Piper says, “there’s only two of you here and I’m not going to waste another thirty minutes of my life trying to find another open seat.” 

The blond seems reluctant but the girl speaks up and says, “I saw the way those mu- muggle-borns look at you—are you a celebrity or something in their world?” Piper purses her lips together and says, "my dad’s an actor in America.”

The girl looks ready to reply when the blond says, “you can sit with us, as long as you don’t bother us.” Piper glance to the blonde and wonders, _what’s up with him?_

“Well, I told you my name. You guys should at least tell me yours,” Piper says, taking a seat beside the girl, albeit a bit further away. 

The girl doesn’t seem to notice and says, “Pansy Parkinson.” She turns to the boy and says, “yours?” 

“Draco Malfoy.” 

* * *

Annabeth boards the train with Percy, glancing around the aisle for open compartments. Annabeth looks through the windows as her mind swirls with questions. As she passed some, she can hear louder voice says “transfer students are weird” and “I didn’t think anyone would their children here after the war. I would think it’d be safer in America.”

Annabeth snickers at that comment, _if they knew they wouldn’t be saying that._ After minutes of walking down different aisles, Annabeth and Percy soon realize the place is filled with students. They’d be lucky if they’re able to sit together.

A couple of minutes go by and Annabeth sees Hazel, Rachel, and Thalia head into a compartment with the redhead from earlier, a boy with a frog and a girl with long blonde hair. Annabeth later sees Jason, Will, and Nico head into an empty compartment, which is probably for the best. 

This left Annabeth, Percy and Reyna with nowhere to go. They make it to the back fo the train and are relieved to find some empty spots left. They enter a mort quiet compartment, which has three people in it.

  
  
“Is there enough for three more?” Annabeth inquires politely and all three heads snap up and she can see two badges on the brown-haired girl’s uniform and the redhead’s.

“Sure,” says the boy with black hair. Annabeth gives him a short thanks before shifting to sit beside the brown-haired girl. She looks up for a minute and nudges a bit closer to Ron to give Annabeth room.

“There weren’t any more compartments available,” Annabeth says,” trust me, we searched the whole train.” 

The boy—Ron, Annabeth realized—choked his food and says,” that’s bloody commitment.” 

Across from Annabeth, Reyna and Percy take their seat beside the boy with black hair. Ron seems to realize something because he narrows his eyes suspiciously at the three of them like he’s going to find out their’ top-secret plan.

The train is quiet for a minute before the girl with bushy hair says, “we’re prefects if you’re wondering about the badge. Since there’s not really supposed to be these many prefects, we’ve got the ability to sit in our compartments.”

“You guys don’t look familiar. We haven’t seen you guys at Hogwarts in the last six years. You guys aren’t from around here, are you?” Ron asks, and the brown-haired girl sighs.

Reyna raises her eyebrows. Percy snorts and says, “yeah. We’re from Mars. It was a bit cramped so we came to earth to chill for a while.”

Annabeth proceeds to kick Percy under the table. Sighing, Annabeth says, “we’re transfer students from America. Percy’s just teasing you.” 

Ron raises an eyebrow and says, “well, we can’t really trust strangers for no reason, you know?” 

“Yeah, why did you turn so hostile?” Annabeth inquires, crossing her arms. Ron sighs and says,” I saw the tattoo on him—“ 

“ It's Percy.”

“And I— “

“You guys have something against tattoos. That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” Percy says, his eyes twinkling.

Ron sputters for a quick second before he says,” death eaters have the death mark—a tattoo of a snake.” 

“Well,” Percy says, rolling up his sleeve to reveal his SPQR tattoo, “I am happy to let you know that I am no ‘death eater.’” 

“That’s a roman tattoo,” the brown-haired girl says, her gaze sharp.

“What can I say? I’m a fan of Rome,” Percy says easily.

“I think we should introduce ourselves,” Annabeth says, “I’m Annabeth Chase.”

She resists from saying ‘daughter of Athena’ at the end of that sentence. That's how many times she's had to say it.

She turns to Percy and says,” my boyfriend, Percy Jackson.”

“Reyna Arellano in short,” Reyna says, her eyes lingering on the witch and wizards in the room. 

“Well,” the girl says, “I’m Hermione Granger and this is Harry Potter.”

The three of them look expectantly at the demigods as if waiting for something to happen.

When nothing happened, Ron inches back into his seat, looking disappointed and somewhat curious.

Reyna catches the mood in the air and says, “you three seem disappointed there.”

Ron shrugs his shoulders response and says, “most people would immediately gasp at Harry’s name or something and then ask him a ton of questions.”

“Really? Why?”

Annabeth glances at Harry again, trying to remember what Chiron told the demigods. She hears Percy’s voice beside her whisper,’ _so this kid defeated a noseless guy.’_

“He defeated you-know-who, _twice._ ”

“Who’s you know who?”

Ron looked aghast and Annabeth mentally facepalms. She gives Percy a sharp look and mouths the words ‘ _Voldemort.’_

Percy gives her a confused glance. “Voldemort,” Harry says and Annabeth can hear the amusement in Harry’s tone.

“Back in America, we don’t really hear about the news from other magical communities. When we did, Voldemort was referred to as ‘The Dark Lord’ or ‘Voldemort,’” Annabeth says.

“I think we were taught about the war back in America, but I’m not that good at listening.” 

“It’s alright,” Harry says after a minute, “It’s refreshing to find people who haven’t heard about me—or heard my name before.” 

Percy nods his head, as if agreeing, _I understand what you mean._

They begin a steady rhythm of exchanging words, sometimes the conversation lasted 5 minutes and sometimes it lasted 20. Soon, the hours passed by and the train soon arrived at Hogwarts. 

Climbing up the steps, Annabeth takes a peek at the towering castle above her. Her eyes move over every inch of the building, her mind going over the style of architecture. Was this made by mortal hands, or by magic? Perhaps it included a bit of both. 

Annabeth nearly jumps out of her skin when she hears a familiar voice to her right said, “the castle had to be renovated last year when Voldemort came back.” Her eyes glance back to the castle for the minute before she continues, “the battle nearly destroyed the castle, but we managed to fix it up.” Then, Hermione’s mood shifts and proudly says, “before that, the castle has been standing strong for over 1000 years.” 

“1000 years,” Annabeth repeats, her mind buzzing. “That—that is—how?”

She stumbles over the words as her mind tries to comprehend how this castle survived ugly battles and such over that many years. She wouldn’t think too deeply of it, weren’t it for the magic users who reside behind its walls. How many parts of this place had been destroyed because one kid wasn’t able to control their magic?

She feels a tug at her wrist and she looks up to see Percy glancing at her with amusement. “Don’t get her started on architecture, she won’t be able to stop,” Percy says, grinning. Hermione lets out a laugh and says,” good to know.”

Together, the three of them enter the great hall after climbing stairs upon stairs. Annabeth looks up to see Hermione waving the group goodbye as the witch went to sit at the Gryffindor table. Annabeth tugs herself closer to Percy as more wizards and witches emerge into the great hall and going to their respective tables.

Soon, the candles above start to dim and a shiver runs down Annabeth’s spine. Annabeth looks up to the front of the Great Hall, where the headmistress stands in front of a podium, her eyes narrow and calculating.

“As you know,” the Headmistress begins, “this year will be no different from the ones before. We shall start out evening by welcoming our new students to Hogwarts - by sorting them into their houses.”

She waits a minute before continuing, "as you can see, we have some older students amongst the first years. For the first time in over twenty years, we’re allowing transfer students to arrive at Hogwarts—from America.” 

A silence grows over the students as they glance towards the Americans, who all look awkward. A second later, whispers break into the groups and Annabeth has a sneaking suspicion that they were taking bets to what Hogwarts house they would be in.

“Before we begin, I would like to announce that we have two new professors joining our ranks. The Defence Against the Dark Arts professor is unavailable at the moment. Mrs. Niles is the new muggle studies professor,” the Headmistress says. 

At the mention of her name, a young woman in her late twenties stands up and bows her head. With dark brown skin that compliments her robes, her brown hair is tied into a bun and Annabeth can’t make out any more noticeable features from so far away. 

A second later, the Muggle Studies teacher takes a seat. “As a set of rules for everyone to abide,” the Headmistress says and Annabeth swears the woman glanced directly towards where Hermione and her friends sat, “no night time wandering, you will lose points from your house if you do. You are not to enter the forbidden forest at any time. You are not outside of school grounds at any time without a teacher. Most importantly,” the woman says, “no spells or hexes should be used against one another. It may lead to being expelled.”

“On with the sorting then,” the headmistress says,” let the hat have its song, then we shall begin.” 

To say that Annabeth was surprised would be an understatement. For one thing, hats shouldn’t be able to talk, let alone _sing._ Yet, here she is, listening to a hat sing about the four founders and how Hogwarts came to be. The last part had turned ominous fast, signing about something ‘not being the end.’ No one seemed to mind the ominous warning and the rational part of her told her that the hat probably says that all the time. 

Annabeth glances at the hat once it had finished singing, and she had felt like this isn’t going to be the last time she would feel utterly surprised while staying here. She watches the headmistress making her way to the stool that sits the hat and bring out a scroll. 

“Abbiestion, Jennifer,” the headmistress says loudly. One of the girls startles for a second, unsure of what to do. One of the girls nearby nudges her forward and the girl hesitantly makes her way toward the hat.

The young girl sits onto the stool and the hat gets place onto her. A second later, the hat roars,” SLYTHERIN.” The voice makes Annabeth jump in surprise, her heart nearly flying out of her chest. _This is definitely surprising,_ Annabeth thinks to herself.

Annabeth watches the kid run off to the table to the far left, which is cheering loudly at their member. _Almost like when a child gets claimed,_ Annabeth thinks to herself, remembering when all her half-siblings cheered for her when the glowing sign of Athena appeared above her head. 

_I wonder what house I’m going to be in._

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Piper with Draco and Pansy. I don't know how to write Pansy exactly lol. I read through her wiki and in the notes, I found out that she was based on one of the kids that bullied JK Rowling and she didn't want Pansy to have a good ending. Anyway, I think that Pansy has to have reasoning for being mean and I'm going to figure it out because I'm certain not all Slytherins are inherently evil just because they can be. 
> 
> Also, what houses do you think everyone belongs to? 
> 
> Also, I wrote Mrs. Niles as POC and I tried my best and googled how to correctly describe a POC character in books and I hope I did it right.


	6. Chapter 5 -  The Golden Trio have questions about the demigods life choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was debating what house Percy belongs to. He shows many traits in both houses (loyalty is a fatal flaw, and loyalty is a Hufflepuff trait. In House of Hades, Percy literally persuaded Bob to kill his brother, and he did do other things that show traits of Slytherin. He's brave/reckless (facing Zeus and questioning the gods) he faced Tarturas himself and managed to escape, which are all Gryffindor traits).

Harry takes an open spot beside Ginny, who edges closer to him when Harry settles himself in his seat. After Ron and Hermione take their seats beside him, Harry pins his gaze to the transfer students. He doesn’t know what to make of the American students since he met them only an hour ago. The ones that Harry sat with on the train behave kindly—but there’s a look in their eyes that Harry knows all too well.

The eyes of kids who looked death in the eye and escaped alive.

Ron told Harry that the two girls they shared a compartment with wouldn't hesitate to kill. Harry, knowing Ron's usually antics, ignores him.

Hermione had appeared behind the two boys and said, “you can get along with them if you tried.”

Ron had jumped a couple of feet in the air in surprise and turned to Hermione and said, “bloody hell Hermione. You’ve got to stop appearing out of nowhere.”

Thirty minutes later, Ron, Hermione, and Harry sit at the Gryffindor table. All three of them guessing what house they will belong to. “One of them will be in Slytherin,” Ron claims with confidence, “my bet is the shadowy one.”

“Can you stop judging peoples house’s on the way they look?” Hermione inquires, narrowing her eyes at Ron. Beside Harry, Ginny snorts and says, “Ron hasn’t been wrong, _once_.”

At this, Hermione opens and closes her mouth, unable to form a sentence. Turning away, Hermione lets out a small huff and instead stares at the first years running up to the sorting hat.

Deciding to ignore the fight, Harry points out, “they all seem to know each other well.” His gaze catches onto the way the transfers act around one another—talking, smiling, laughing.

“Ilvemorny has houses too and _all_ of them couldn't be in the same house. It wouldn't make sense. They would have to have a different way to interact with one another,” Hermione says.

“I made friends with Luna, who’s in Ravenclaw,” Ginny points out. Hermione shakes her head and says, “there’s a problem, three of them look younger than the others. How would that add up?”

No one says anything for a minute before Ron opens his mouth and says, "they seem to be holding a secret— _I can sense it._ "

Hermione elbows him and says, “can you stop being suspicious for one minute?” Ron makes a noise at the back of his throat and says, “I’m not! It could be something like ‘I’m cheating on my boyfriend with his friend’. It could also be ‘I clogged the toilet by accident’ or ‘I blew up my dorm room so we all have to transfer’ or—"

“We get it,” Hermione snaps at Ron, making him shut up. Ginny starts laughing.

“I suspect the blonde one will be in Ravenclaw,” Harry interjects before Ron would be able to form a retort.“There are three blondes, Harry,” Ron says, a grin on his face from annoying Hermione.

“The girl,” Harry says, irritated.

“Well, the shadowy one will be in Slytherin,” Ron says. "You already said that," Hermione replies.

"I'm just making sure you know," Ron responds and like that, they start deciding what house everyone will be in. “Not all transfers will be in Gryffindor,” Ginny says, “that would be too convenient for the—.”

“ _GRYFFINDOR_ ,” the hat screeches, bringing all four heads to snap up. They look up to see the Gryffindors cheering as a student scurries to the table, her cheeks red. Harry glances at the front of the hall to see all the first years are gone. This means its time for the transfer students to be sort into houses.

Pro— _Headmistress_ McGonagall steps forward from behind the stool with a new scroll in her hands. “We’ll have to wait and see,” Hermione whispers.

The hall starts to quiet down, aside from the hushed tones of people taking bets. A minute later, the hall drops into silence. Harry suspects if he drops a pin, it would echo as loud as possible throughout the hall. The transfer students all look around at the sudden silence. They notice the Headmistress with a new scroll and they all stop talking.

Headmistress McGonagall eyes the transfers, then drops her gaze at the scroll. “Arellano, Reyna," the Headmistress says. At the mention of her name, the girl with the braid walks forward, her eyes set for the hat.

“I placed her on my scary list,” Ron whispers to Harry. “Scary list?” Hermione inquires, her eyebrows shooting up. Ron doesn’t respond.

The headmistress takes the hat and lifts it off the stool when Reyna draws closer, allowing Reyna to take a seat. The hat grazes her head when it shouts, ‘ _GRYFFINDOR'._ Reyna jumps up, surprise on her face before it disappears as soon as it came. She stumbles off the stool as the Gryffindor table starts shouting and applauding. Reyna takes the closest opening, which happens to be across from Ron. When Reyna sits down, Ginny looks up at her, a grin on her face but doesn’t say anything to her.

A second later, a voice says, “Chase, Annabeth.”

Reyna looks behind her at the mention of her friend’s name. The blonde walks forward, her eyes narrowing onto the hat with curiosity. A second later, she grabs the edge of the stool and lifts herself onto it. A couple of seconds go by and Harry watches the expressions forming on Annabeth’s face. At one point, her brows furrow together as she speaks lowly to the hat. The hat stills after a minute before hollering out the word, ‘ _RAVENCLAW!’"_

Annabeth hopes off the stool, a startled look crossing over her face, with one hand holding the side of her head—or ear. The Ravenclaw table starts roaring with cheers at the announcement of a new member. Annabeth walks towards it, confusion knitting its way through her face. Harry can hear Reyna mutter something incoherent under her breath and he can't tell if she’s happy or sad.

“I could have guessed that because she's passionate about architecture,” Hermione says. Her eyes trail Annabeth for a minute before glancing away.

Headmistress McGonagall calls the next teenager over, “Dare, Rachel.”

The girl with red frizzy hair walks forward, her eyes giving the hat a wary glance. With a hesitant look to the hat, Rachel pushes herself onto the stool. The hat plops onto her a second later and she cringes. She takes a minute to respond, but when she does, the hat still for a minute. Then, Rachel adds something and the hat bellows the word, ‘ _HUFFLEPUFF.'_

The Hufflepuffs start clapping as Rachel, looking stunned, walks towards the table. Rachel sits beside a girl with brown hair, who says something to her. Rachel shrugs her shoulders as if to say ‘ _I have no idea what happened.'_ As soon as Rachel takes her seat, the Headmistress calls the next name on her list, “Di Angelo, Nico.”

Earlier, Ron pointed out that the boy is the most mysterious of the group and no one else disagreed with him. He looks like he’s surrounded by _shadows._

Hermione pointed out how the boy looks so pale and skinny, wondering if he ate anything in the past week. The boy—Nico—walks towards the stool, not looking hesitant like the other members of his group. He sits on the stool and says something to the hat before the hat touches his head. It takes about forty seconds for the hat to decide, and as Ron guessed, the hat shouts in full volume, “ _SLYTHERIN._ ” The Slytherin table shouts cheers at their first transfer member—or only. Nico, unaffected by the cheers, walks towards the Slytherin table and takes a seat at the edge.

Harry takes this chance to look amongst the Slytherins, his eyes looking out for blond hair. His eyes find Draco and Harry’s surprised that the Slytherin isn’t cheering with his table. When Harry heard the news that Malfoy’s returning to Hogwarts, Harry had been a bit suspicious—and surprised. _Perhaps_ _he wants to learn something this time around._

Harry’s shaken out his thoughts when he hears “Grace, Jason,” called. The boy with blond hair and glasses walks forward, his posture relaxed. The only thing giving away the blond's anxiety is his fidgeting hands. Plopping down on the stool, Jason looks up at the hat. A second later, the hat thunders the word, ‘ _GRYFFINDOR'!_

Jason jumps off the stool and walks towards Harry’s table, his hands still fidgeting. He takes his seat beside Reyna, whose attention focuses on a girl with black hair.

A second later, the girl with black hair walks forward at the mention of her name. “Grace, Thalia,” Headmistress McGonagall announces and Harry blinks back his surprise. He sneaks a glance at Jason and then back to Thalia. They don’t look similar—aside from the blue eyes.

As Thalia strolls towards the hat, looking unbothered, Ron leans over to Harry. He whispers, “why do they all look scary? What is Ilvermorney teaching them? _Why use a wand when you can use glares when an enemy approaches you?”_ Harry rolls his eyes and whispers back “or—”

‘ _GRYFFINDOR!”_ Both Harry and Ron jump up as the hat breaks through their whispering. Around them, Gryffindors start cheering as Thalia makes her way towards the table. Thalia collapses to the other side of Reyna and the two of them grin at one another. Ron glances between the two of them with raised eyebrows but doesn’t comment.

“Jackson, Percy,” Headmistress McGonagall announces. Harry looks to the boy that looks like him. He watches Percy saunter over to the stool. A second later, he plops down on the stool and the hat drops down on his head. Seconds go by and McGonagall glances at Percy, who’s having a short conversation with the hat.

A minute passes, and the sorting hat bellows, ' _GRYFFINDOR'!_ The Gryffindors table starts cheering again. Harry wonders how many more transfer students are going to be in Gryffindor. Ron wouldn’t be able to handle it. Percy sits opposite to Reyna, which happens to be beside Hermione. Hermione jumps at Percy’s sudden presence and he gives her a small smile.

“Levesque, Hazel.”

At the mention of her name, the young girl walks towards the table. Her golden eyes flicker over the four tables before settling on the hat. Hazel stops in front of the stool, allowing for Headmistress McGonagall to lift the hat. Then, she perches herself atop of it. The hat settles on her head and the hat yells the words ‘ _HUFFLEPUFF'_.

Harry settles his gaze to the girl the muggle-borns keep looking at. He's barely aware of Hazel walking to the Hufflepuff table.

“McLean, Piper,” Mcgongalls voice rings out through the hall. Hermione’s eyes widen and Ron looks to her and inquires, “what?” Hermione glances at Piper once more before saying, “her Dad is a famous actor in America. He’s stared in famous movies. She—“

Hermione hesitates, “she’s known for some stuff too.”

“What _stuff?”_

Hermione kicks him under the table and says, “she was accused of stealing a car—which turned out to be false— _now be quiet_.” The transfers across from Harry didn’t seem to notice Ron and Hermione’s conversation. Harry wonders if he should consider that lucky or not.

Harry looks up to see the hat contemplating and after a minute, the hat yells the word ‘ _SLYTHERIN'._ With a blank face, Piper walks towards the Slytherin table. She stops, and frowns, noticing most of the seats are gone. Nico seemed to take one of the only available spots left. Piper’s gaze looks down the table and Harry follows her gaze—to Draco and his cronies—where an empty seat resides. Piper shrugs her shoulders and walks over to that side of the table and collapses there.

Now, there seems to be only one student left. A boy with blond hair who looks to be around fourteen—the blond that Nico seems to attach to. Hermione had pointed this out earlier to the group, saying, “he never wanders off when he’s near the blond.”

“Solace, Will,” the Headmistress says, peering over the parchment towards the blond. As Will walks forward, the Headmistress closes the parchment. Will hesitates when he draws close to the hat as if the hat will attack him if he walks closer. A second later, Will’s sitting on the stool and the hats on his head.

' _HUFFLEPUFF!’_ The hat bellows, nearly making the glass shatter. Beneath the hat, Will flinches at the loudness of the hat’s voice. A second later, Will’s on his way to the Hufflepuff table. He takes a seat beside Hazel, who he starts talking to. “That went great,” Ron mutters to himself. Harry can’t help but grin at Ron’s discomfort with transfer students surrounding him.

Food appears in front of them at the clap of Headmistress McGonagall's hands. Ron’s eyes narrow at the platter filled to the brim with food and mutter, “this day got a lot better.”

Offhandley, Harry hopes this year would be better than previous years. No wars, no monster, no surprise events, just _peace._ The only thing that Harry has to worry about this year is grades and NEWTS. _Now you have your hopes up._

He should know by now nothing goes as plan.

* * *

Harry doesn't notice the chatter around him, he’s too busy glancing at his food—and eating it—to worry. At the back of his mind, he can hear Hermione inquire about America, and Ilvermorny, to the transfer students. 

Percy shrugs his shoulders when Hermione asks about what they do at Ilvermorny. “The regular,” Percy claims, “learning how to be assassins, cause world destruction. Those sorts of things.” Harry can feel himself smiling while Ron snickers. Ron’s warming up to the transfer students and Harry can see why.

“We have spells that can turn wands into weapons and the other way around. We have nature spells—ways to make water do our bidding, etc,” Percy adds as an afterthought. Hermione raises her brows, ignoring the first part, and says, “that seems interesting. I would have to look that up in the library soon.” Hermione turns to Thalia and Reyna. She starts discussing something about weapons with them. She later talks about hexes, both of whom seem interested.

After a while of eating, everyone starts heading out of the hall, including Harry and his friends. “Are we going now?” Percy inquires, looking up, watching everyone leave. “Yeah, we have a big day tomorrow,” Ron says, standing up.

"Hermione?" Ron inquires and Hermione looks up and says, "yes?" Ron glances at the first years and says, "do we have to take the first years up and tell them about everything again?" Hermione raises her brows and says, "didn't you get the prefect letter."

A beat of silence.

"No."

"Wha—." Hermione stops herself and turns to Ron and says, "we don't—that'll be the seventh year students job. It’s not our job since we're redoing our final year." Ron grins, looking satisfied.

Together, the golden trio and the transfers leave the great hall. They start walking towards the stairs, which will lead to the Gryffindor common room. As Harry starts walking up the stair, he hears Percy groan behind him, making Harry grin.

Harry starts thinking back to supper, remembering the conversations they had. The transfers were fun to talk to.

The first memory is when Harry watched Percy’s face turn to surprise when food appears on the table. His eyes seem to glaze over when he sees how food there is. “I’m in heaven,” Percy whispers, “too bad there aren’t blue pancakes.”

Hermione knits her brows together and asked, “blue pancakes?” At this, Percy explains how much he loves blue food and half of the reason behind the reason why he loves blue food. At one point Jason jokes, “I should contact ‘ _My Strange Addictions. I'll_ tell them about your unhealthy obsession with blue food.” At this, Percy pouts and says, “your just jealous.”

Harry grins at the memory and looks behind him, to the trailing transfer students. Some of them have trouble climbing the long stairs—their eyes too busy glued to the moving ones. Harry turns back around, his mind going back to the other conversation at dinner. It was weird, they were sitting in their seats, all looking uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?”

"We burn our food before we eat."

"What? We've never heard of that!"

"Yeah—er. Sort of tradition. Mind if you can conjure fire?"

"Sure?"

Trying to be inconspicuous as possible, Hermione mutters ‘ _Incendio’_ under the table. A second later, heat seeps into Harry’s leg. Then, the transfers scrap the food off their plates, into the fire. Hermione distinguished the fire after everyone finishes. Hermione pockets her wand and went back to eating as if nothing happened.

Harry’s brought out of his thoughts when he hears Ron sigh. "Trouble climbing up the stairs?" Harry jokes, pushing back the questions popping in his hands about the transfers.

"Nope," Ron says, "I'm just thinking back to the summer."

“Ah,” Harry says, “how’s your family doing?” Ron glances at him and replies with, “Charlie’s back in Romania with his dragons. He had stayed here for three months so he had to get back to work.”

Ron hesitates for a minute before saying, “George left the shop to Lee for the past four months. George is getting better though. He's going back to the shop in October from what Mum said. Speaking of her, she almost started crying when she saw all the Weasleys over for the summer. For a _whole_ week.”

Then, Ron chuckles and says, “Mum looked ready to explode when Ginny brought her broom inside. She caused some of the plates to fall on the floor and break.” Harry snorts and thinks, _that does sound like Ginny._

Harry snickers and says, "how about—" he stops talking when the group stops at the painting of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" The painting inquires, glancing down at the group of wizards.

"Flibber Knickel," one of the Gryffindor prefects says.

"What kind of password is that?" one of the transfers—Thalia—asked.

"It’s effective, at least," Reyna replies.

The painting swings open, giving away to the Gryffindor common room.

When they enter the common room, the Gryffindors swarm into the place. Some mutter, “it feels weird being here after four months.” One of the girls raises her brows and says, “ _four?_ I haven’t been here since last year!”

“Well,” Ginny says, collapsing onto one of the chairs. "It feels good to be back without worrying about Death Eaters.” Somewhere from behind Harry, he can hear Dean Thomas says, “you can say that again.”

From the fireplace, Neville looks up and says, “I heard we changed dormmates.” At this, everyone starts whispering to one another. Some look crestfallen at the potential loss of their friends.

“Aye, Dean,” Seamus says, wringing his arm around Dean, “I checked and we’re in the same Dorm together with Neville and Ben.”

Harry and Ron glance at one another and Ron says, “then who is with us?”

“Us,” Percy says, who’s standing beside Jason. Ron opens and closes his mouth. Harry intervenes and says, “we’ll show you where your dorms are—your stuff should all be there by now.”

“Are we supposed to stay here for the rest of the night?” Percy inquires, his eyes glancing across the room. “It _is_ 8 o’clock, so we shouldn’t need to go outside,” Hermione says, coming through the group of boys.

They all back up as Hermione turns to Ron and says, “if you guys can excuse us, Ron and I have prefects duties to attend to. It includes a _ghost.”_

_"There are ghosts?"_

_Hermione and Ron ignore Percy._

Ron groans and says, “ _please_ tell me it isn’t Peeves.” 

“Who else would it be?”

“We should get the Bloody Baron,” Ron says, both of them walking out of the portrait hall together. The last thing Harry can hear is Hermione saying, “the Head Boy and Head Girl is already going to do that. Our job is to make sure the first years don't approach him.” 

Harry hears Ron mutter something incoherent and Harry grins as his friends disappear.

“ _Peeves?”_ Thalia says, and Harry spins around to see Thalia leaning on one of the sofa’s, sitting beside Reyna.

“A poltergeist,” Ginny says, whose sitting beside Paravati. “He’s known to fool around with people—or unsuspecting kids,” Ginny adds.

Harry watches the four girls engage in conversation with one another. He decides that he isn’t needed anymore. Turning around, Harry starts heading upstairs and he hears feet follow him. For a minute, he’s confused until he realizes that two of his transfer students share the same dorm.

He starts walking down the hall until his eyes find his dorm. He glances at the two males—Jason and Percy—and says, “all your stuff for school should be in here.” Without a minute to waste, Harry opens the door in front of him.

He immediately goes to the bed with the window view, not waiting for anyone else to take that spot. His eyes go over to his books, which are on the desk beside his bed.

“I guess we settle in?” He hears Percy inquire, and Harry shrugs his shoulders as his fingers wrap around the first book. Normally, he would be like Ron, and he wouldn’t care about the books until tomorrow, but this one seems interesting.

_Expansive Charms from the most talented magic users_

Its the first time Harry has seen a book titled this and he’s been to the same bookstore tons of times before. Harry glances up at Jason and Percy and sees that the boys left the bed closest to Harry open for Ron. His eyes dart across the room to see that the bathroom is in use. He glances to the left to see Jason in his bed with his wand in his hand. H _e must’ve got a new one before coming to Hogwarts._

Harry flips open the book cover onto the fifth page and Harry blinks when he sees the first spell. It's so... _simple._ His gaze drops the short description. ‘ _Though this spell may seem easy, the caster has to be in a stable set of mind where their emotions are void._ _If these instructions aren't followed, the outcome can be dangerous to the castor and those surrounding them_ _.'_

Harry grabs his wand from the side of his bed, and his eyes read over the instructions. It doesn’t exactly say _what_ the spell does but he knows it isn't dangerous. There’s no warning to not use it without supervision, unlike the next spell.

Atop the description is three circles with a line pointing in which direction and part to start at. Above _that_ is the incantation— _Crescere Circuitu._ Below that, in brackets, is the pronunciation.

Harry looks around the room and turns to his counter. Knowing that charms are types of spells that add properties to an object, Harry points his wand to the desk. Harry hopes that the spell won’t make the counter disappear. Harry flicks his wand and says, “ _Cresere Circuitu.”_ Jason peers up at Harry as the boy finishes his incantation. A second later, nothing happens to the desk. Harry starts to worry that the spell affected something _else._ Perhaps an unsuspecting person in the next dorm over got affected by the spell—which Harry hopes is wrong.

Then, one of the many desk cupboards props itself open and Harry jumps back and so does Jason. A second later, vines start crawling out of the cupboard and down the desk. Harry pushes down his panic, reminding himself what the description had said. 

The vines stop before they reach the floor and they start to curl around the desk. They shoot up until it covers all ends of the desk.

“You know, in Latin, that means 'to grow around,’” Jason says a second after the vines stopped moving.

“That’ll explain it,” Harry says, his mind buzzing. Harry casts a reversing charm and both boys watch the vines disappear into nothing.

_That’s enough summoning for one day._

A minute passes and Percy walks out of the bathroom. When he shuts the door, he glances between the two boys sitting in their beds, both still looking at the desk.

“What did I miss?”

“Nothing much,” Jason says, “just watched a bunch of vines engulf a desk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter there's only a short bit from my OC's POV, the rest is back to the demigods. I think I'll have around 30 chapters? Maybe.


	7. Chapter 6 - I receive a death threat (don't worry, I won't die until Christmas)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the help of Google, I found out for Russian surnames, the ending letters change if the last name belongs to a girl. I also love Ana now.
> 
> Updates are every Thursday now.

**Four Hours Later**

The silver-eyed woman looks up at the moon, the light breaking through the darkness. Leaning against the tree, she waits. Its midnight in a minute—and the charm hiding the place will disappear. She can feel the magic in her skin, crawling up her back and around her chest, ready to squeeze her the oxygen out of her lungs.

A noise to her right—a snap of a tree branch—jolts her out of her thoughts. Her head snaps in the direction of the noise, her eyes landing on a figure in the dark behind two trees. Her eyes narrow to the figure, and she has half a mind to announce her presence. The thought died in her mind when the stranger turns towards her, a cruel grin on his face. A chill runs up her back as she locked eyes with the figure.

She brings out her wand from the folds of her cloak as if to warn the stranger that she’s armed. A low chuckle from the stranger makes her turn pale. O _h, that voice sounds familiar._ She keeps her wand straight, eyes on the man. She bites her tongue because the only thing keeping her from asking who it is—

The figure steps forward, towards the girl, and she can almost hear the moment her stomach drops. A dark blue stripe goes down the cloak the figure wears—only _Scurra_ wear darker stripes of colour on their cloak. The _Lord’s_ colour is separate from the rest of the Jokers’s, which is a dark red.

The girl’s mouth dries at the thought of lifting a wand towards one of the four _Scurra_. She’s glad this isn't the Lord she's pointing the wand at—or she would be dead. Her eyes drift over to the colour of the _Scurra's_ stripe to locate his name. “Lord Ashiva,” the girl greets, keeping her voice steady. She eyes the man, who seems to grow at the mention of his name.

Ashiva lets out a derisive snort and she almost jumps at the noise. She frowns, wondering what she said that's wrong. A second later, Ashiva says, “Lord? Are you not a member—albeit new—of the _ducibus_ faction? You needn’t call me on your level a lord.” His voice is soft but she can hear the humour in it.

_Factions._ The word felt bitter on her tongue, she doesn't know why. Ever since a girl she had wrinkled her nose to the word, thinking it odd to have separate groups. Even if this happened to be the highest faction, she still felt like she was fighting to prove herself. Five Factions all together - based on different suites of cards and the faction of leaders. They couldn’t come up with anything better to consider themself as. _If you talk like that,_ her Mama warned, _the ducibus faction will come for your head because of your lack of respect._ The person in front of her ran the _diamonds_ faction, judging by his stripe of colour. Some say that Ashiva is a demigod because no one else can use magic without a wand (but she finds it unbelievable).

Shaking her head, the girl says, “what about the Lo—”

Ashiva cuts her off with a wave of his hand. “We call him the _Seer of crossroads_ or the _Seer.”_ He waits a minute before looking to her and says, “I don’t think I caught your name at our last meeting.”

“It wasn’t said,” she says, her mind going back to the evening.

_She’s dead because of you. Have you no shame?_ Her brothers scoffing voice enters his head.

Yo _u’d rather sacrifice your friend to the group that hasn't helped us one bit? That's all but cursed us?_

She swallows back the thought and reassures herself in her mind. _I’m sure she wouldn’t want to live in a place where we’re all enslaved to gods. She's sacrificed for the greater good._

_I can’t believe you believe that._

Of course, she hasn’t seen her brother in years.

Her eyes meet Ashiva’s, whose waving her on to give her name. A couple of nights ago, The L— _Seer,_ came to her and she had starred him down. He had later said that she is brave and loyal. She’s not doing that good tonight with the bravery part.

“Ana,” the silver-eyed girl says, her eyes following the man’s head tilts to the side. “A—Anastasia Avilova,” she says, feeling odd at giving away her name. _Normally, I would give my whole name away. Yet, he's a Scurra..._

“Russian?” The man says, a hint of surprise in his voice. A rush of victory jolts through her body at surprising a Joker. “Grandparents,” Ana replies with ease.

She begins to regain her stride.

“The reason why the charm isn’t lifting for you is that you have _one_ final test.” Ana snaps her head towards the male.

Dread starts to pile her stomach and the strangling sense of magic comes back in full force. _I will not kill anyone else. I swear it._

“Find the Jack you're replacing—he goes by the name David Smith, "he says and Ana raises an eyebrow.

_Is he serious?_ Refraining from voicing her question, she crosses her arms and nods her head. She says, "when was his last known appearance?”

“The farmlands near Diagon Alley, near an abandoned mansion,” he says. Ana glances at him, wondering if he setting her up to fail. The information doesn't give Ana a good start, it might take her more than two days to find this 'David'. “If I return him,” Ana says, “will I become Jack?”

Ashiva bows his head and says, “return him to _me_ personally. The Seer has given the duties to deal with him.”

“Right,” Ana says, “I’m guessing I’ll know what he looks like?"

Ashiva gives her a small smile and says, “you can say that, yes.”

Then, he raises his head to the moon and says, “you’ll have till the next full moon to return to me. Do not be late.”

A second later, Ashiva disappears, leaving Ana to her thoughts. 

_There's no way I'm going to capture this ex-member in time._

**The Second Day of Hogwarts**

Piper wakes up to the sounds of movement coming from the beds around her. Groaning, Piper opens her eyes and checks the time on her nightstand— _8:00._ It takes a minute for the blaring numbers to register in her brain. _8:00._

Piper shoots of her bed, realizing how much time she has left to get ready. Letting out a curse, Piper looks around the room. She watches the girls moving around their dorm, all with make-up and robes on.

As Piper grabs her uniforms, there’s a flash of her dream at the back of her brain and Piper straightens for a minute. The _box opens and golden liquid spills out onto the grass, forming—_

Piper takes a deep breath and looks up, wondering if anyone saw. Most of the girls are gone, save for Pansy who gives her a weird look. Piper ignores the look and moves past her. Her cheeks are bright red as she moves into the bathroom. She shuts the door behind her.

As she gets dressed, she thinks back to what the sorting hat told her. The experience was... _odd_ to say the least. One conversation with that stood out though.

_‘What about my dream? What house would I go to figure this out?’_

_‘Slytherin,’ the hat replies. A second later he says, ‘you’ll figure out what your dreams mean. Connect the flashes with the connections you make with the Slytherins. Though, if you take Slytherin, its most known trait may get you in trouble along the way.’_

_‘Well, I need to figure out what this dream means. It might save us’_

_‘SLYTHERIN’_

Shaking her head, Piper opens the bathroom door and heads towards her bed, checking the time as she does. Truth be told, she _did_ put make-up on. As much as she dislikes putting a lot on, she wants to look _good_ and _ready_ for the first day of the wizarding school. _It’s silly, but I still want to try._

She glances around the room to see that Pansy has left, leaving Piper alone. Looking at her clock, she realizes why. _8:30._ By her chance, she’ll have enough time to stop by the Great Hall, grab food, and book it.

Grabbing her books and cloak, she heads out into the common room/dungeon. No wonder why Slytherins are mean, they live in a _cold dungeon_ while the others live in towers and near the kitchen. _I hope I won't become like them by the end of the year._

She walks down the stairs, passing a group of Slytherins who are playing cards. “I don’t even know what classes I have,” Piper mutters to herself as she walks out of the common room and into the damp hall.

As she starts walking, she starts shivering at the temperature difference. She glances around the corridor before placing the books on the ground. She grabs her cloak that’s hanging around her arm and pulls it over her body. She sighs as warmth overtakes her again.

Lifting up her books, she pockets her wand and starts walking towards the Great Hall. She makes it in record timing and looks around the hall to see most of the tables left unattended. Checking the time, 8:40, she heads to the Slytherin table to grab a piece of toast and to check her timetable.

When she plops her books down on one of the seats, she notices a newspaper left on the table. She grabs two pairs of toast and glances at the Headline. **‘** **_TWO WITCHES DISAPPEARED WITHIN A WEEK. WORK OF ROGUE DEATH EATERS?_** _’_

Piper bites into her piece of toast and reads the first column dedicated to the story. ‘ _At the beginning of the week, Aisha Silk disappeared. Though Aurors say that the woman may have left the ministry on her own free will, we beg to differ. The Day before the start of Hogwarts, one of the Pureblood—Shafiq’s daughter has_ _been reported_ _missing. There are no signs of a body. After looking over the scene, investigators stated that the fire did not start from the fire pit. Some citizens claim to say they saw a cloaked figure walk into a shop near night. Is this a coincidence? The Aurors are trying to cover this up, but fear not! We are here to serve the truth._

_Aurors are warning to not go out alone after 7:00 since that’s when most disappearances happen._

Piper rips her gaze away as she finishes her toast. A second later, she looks at her timetable. She has _Charms_ first, which is located on the third floor in the charms hallway. _She can make it._ Turning around, Piper grabs her books and heads off towards the large staircase.

Soon, she’s running past other students, most of whom look tired, drowsy, and somewhat panicked. Piper doesn’t blame them, her class starts in _five minutes._ Piper almost crashes into a student at the realization. She’s not going to make it in time, she doesn’t even know where the charm hallway is located!

She speeds up the stairs, her feet getting tangled in her cloak. The next thing she knows, she’s tripping into a blond-haired boy’s back, making _him_ fall over too. Piper winces as both of their books go flying to the floor, flipping down the staircase, and making the loudest noise known to man. Around them, people surge to avoid the two falling witch and wizard. 

Piper groans as she comes to a stop at the nearest platform.

“ _Accio,”_ a voice says above her and Piper watches the books—her books too—come flying back towards them.

“Thank you,” Piper says, letting out a breath as the books go back into Piper’s arm. “Sorry for running into you, I have to be in Charms class in four minutes.”

The boy chuckles and says, “I would hate to miss the first day of class too.”

Piper glances at him and the blond says, “here, we’re heading the same way, I’ll lead you towards the class.” As an afterthought, he says, “I know a quicker way and I’m willing to help you since your also a Slytherin.”

_You may be living in a dungeon for ten months, but at least you get some special perks in return._

The blond starts walking on the second floor and turns a hall. Piper hurries to catch up, her mind buzzing with confusion.

“I didn’t catch your name,” Piper says to him as she follows him around the corner—away from the stairs.

“I didn’t give it,” the boy responds, “but you can call me Drey.”

The blond brings out his wand and points it at a wall, his eyes darting across the hall to make sure no one’s looking. Piper purses her lips and says, “what are you—”

Drey flicks his wand and the bricks in the walls start to move and rumble and Piper takes an instinctive step back. A second later, the bricks are gone for the minute, and a passageway leading _up_ is all Piper can see. Drey walks in and says, “are you following?”

“Yeah,” Piper says, and goes to follow him up the passageway. Time seems to speed up in the passageway. Within a blink of an eye, Piper’s standing on the other side of the passageway, listening to Drey close the short cut.

In front of her is her Charms classroom on her timetables. She hears Drey walking away so she turns around and says, “thank you, again.”

Drey grins and says, “no problem, I’ve got to be going to class.” Piper turns back to the doorway leading to her charms class. She listens to the others Slytherins footsteps get further and further away.

She steps into the classroom, her eyes landing on familiar faces. Her eyes land on the only empty seat left, which is beside Jason. She walks over to the open seat and slides her books onto the table. Jason hardly notices her, which Piper considers a blessing. After breaking it off after deciding that _this_ won’t work, things had been awkward between the two of them.

She hears someone step towards the desk and Piper looks up to see the Professor with a notebook in his hands. Behind him, in magic, letters are placed to write out: _Professor Flitwick._ As Piper places her other books inside her desk, the bell rings, making the other kids look up.

Professor Flitwick drops his book on the desk and says, “welcome class. I’m happy to see you all here today.” His eyes glance over the room and say, “thankfully, everyone is here on time. Which I am certain is a record-breaker.”

A couple of snickers fill the air.

“You’re in the Advanced Charm Class where you learn about some more advanced and more… _magical_ charms. Some of these charms can be dangerous if done wrong. So I hope none of you practiced any yesterday,” Professor Flitwick says. Around them, some students shift in their seats.

The Professor chose to ignore this.

“Turn to your first page—the most simple spell which is the water summoning spell. I hope you guys remember learning the fundamental parts of the spell from sixth year. If not, today is going to get a lot longer,” Professor Flitwick says. His voice a mutter at the end.

“In Sixth year, you are taught about how to _summon_ water. This year you're going to be taught how to _move_ and _distort_ water,” the professor says.

Around her, Piper watches people grabbing out their quills and parchment. Piper has a short heart attack at the thought of leaving her quill and Parchment behind. After a second, she realizes she stuffed one in her robes.

“You should all remember the spell which summons water—would anyone here like to refresh our memory?” Professor Flitwick inquires, glancing across the room. One of the Gryffindor’s hands shoots up, some others coming up later and not as quick.

“Yes, Hermione,” Professor Flitwick says to the first person. Hermione responds, “ _Aguamenti._ ”

The Professor nods his head and says, “good - no one should be complaining about not being able to remember the charm. Now, you're all going to bring out your wands and use the charm. Make sure it’s under control.” He gives a warning glance to Seamus, who says, “it won’t happen again.”

A minute later, the wizards and witches are bringing out their wands. Most of them glance at one another with grins on their faces. Then, the Professor says, “and, as much you want to, you are no to spray water into your friend’s face.”

The looks drop from their faces for a minute and the Professor pretends not to notice their looks. Piper grabs her wand as she watches other students flick their wrist. Seconds later, water comes flying out of their wands. The Profesor makes the water vanish before it lands on the ground.

Some students seem to struggle more than the others but they finally catch on. Piper glances down at her wand and lets out a small breath. She lifts her wand and flicks her wand, “ _Aguamenti.”_ A second later, water sprouts from the edge of her wand, and disappears a second later.

The Professor lets the students try the spell two more times. He interrupts the class, saying, “now that we’re done, we can move onto making the water move.” _How can you do that? I’m sure it’s going to be easy for Percy._

“When you summon the water, make this arc with your wand. Use your wrist,” Professor Flitwick says. Piper looks up to the blackboard where a line is being drawn, followed by a curve to the right. “While doing this, think of where you want your water to go and whisper the words ‘ _volant'._ Do not hesitate to say the words as soon as possible because I don’t want water on the floor,” the professor says.

Piper looks to see people writing this down with a quill in her hand and she thinks— _am I supposed to be writing this?_ Not waiting to find out, Piper pulls out her quill and scribbles down—tries to—the spell and instructions.

Around the room, she can hear people say the words, “ _Arguamenti.”_ Looking around the room, she spots students try to say the next word, “ _volant."_

_Most are_ too late and water flies towards the floor. The Professor summons a spell that makes the water disappear and so the circle begins again.

Piper spies Percy saying the words ‘

_volant’_ and water rushes out. Her gaze follows the water stop in the air - and instead go in different directions. It goes wherever the wand points and Percy starts grinning. “Excellent work Percy. Five points to Gryffindor for getting the spell first try,” the professor says. Percy grin grows wider and Piper grits her teeth. How hard can this be?

_She's going to jinx herself, isn't she?_

Nearby, Piper can hear Hermione say, “ugh... Why can’t I—”

“You can watch me,” the redhead says from beside Hermione. Piper turns her gaze to them, watching Hermione purse her lips and says, “Ron—”

Ron flickers his wrist after saying the first spell and says, “ _volant._ ”

A second later, the water is flying around Hermione, who narrows her eyes at Ron’s wand. “Your movements are a bit sloppy, but I know now what I did wrong. I'm pronouncing the word wrong, thanks,” Hermione says.

“Sloppy?” Ron questions, sounding offended.

“ _Aguamenti,”_ Hermione says and then she flicks her wrist and says, “ _Volant.”_

A second later, the water flies around Ron and Hermione and she grins, “I did it.”

Piper sighs in her seat and glances at her wand. Letting out a breath, Piper points her wand, “ _Aguamenti_.”

Water comes rushing out and Piper hurries to flicker her wand and says, “ _Volant.”_ It does nothing and rushes to the floor. Before it hits the ground, it floats back towards her. Piper raises her brows as it floats around her before disappearing.

Piper turns head to see Jason with his wand still pointed at the water that once circled her. Jason lowers his gaze to Pipers and she can feel her cheeks burn, “thank you— _er_.”

“You flicked your wand instead of your wrist,” Jason says a minute later, “don’t rush it.” Piper groans and says, “thanks.” Turning back around, Piper raises her wand again and says the words, “ _Agu—_ _" The_ word dies in her throat as another flash of her dream flickers in her vision.

_Fire burns, surrounding them in the underground._

Piper sucks in a breath as a hand lands on her shoulder. Piper turns her head and finds Jasons furrowed brows and worried glance. “I’m fine,” Piper promises, _what does this mean?_

_What does this mean?_

Jason doesn’t look convinced but he doesn't challenge her.

Piper digs her nails into the desk, _I need to figure out what my dream is about._ _Perhaps_ _there’s a book explaining this._

Taking a breath and ridding herself of her thoughts, Piper says the words, “ _Arguamenti.”_ Water jets out and this time, Piper flickers her wrist and says, “ _volant.”_ The water shoots away from the ground and flickers across Jason and Piper.

She glances across the room, spying other students having trouble. Piper smirks, feeling a bit better _,_ Piper flicker wand outwards. The reaction is instant. The water expands—moving into a circle across the room. A few people look at the water flowing above their heads and Piper grins.

“Excellent work Piper,” came Professor Flitwick’s response. “You’re able to keep the water under your control with excellence. "Ten points to Slytherin.” At this, Piper grins and glances at Percy, who meets her gaze. Piper turns her gaze away, her smile still on her face.

Minutes go by, and Piper refrains from trying to gloat. Soon, most manage to get the spell correct. Piper pulls out her timetable when Professor Flitwick turns away.

_Charms_ \- check

_Divination -_ with the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs

_Free period_

_Lunch -_

_History of Magic -_ with the Ravenclaws

_Double Care of Magical Creatures - Gryffindor_

Piper raises her brows, why are there so many periods? Piper puts her timetable away looks around the room. W _ho do I have divination with?_ Piper’s head springs up when she hears Professor Flitwick start talking. "Class is ending in three minutes. For those of you who have not been able to move the water, it will be homework. The next time I see you, I will like to see you all use the ‘volant’ charm successfully.”

With that, students start to pack up and Piper does so too. _I have Divinationw with Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs and no one else knows where that is._ She turns to Jason and says, “do you know where Divination is?”

“Yeah,” Jason says, “I heard the people that share a dorm with me talk about it—it’s at the north tower.”

“Thanks,” Piper says and a minute later, the bell rings. Everyone gets up and heads to the door and Piper waits until the space is empty before leaving. She needs to get to the top of the north tower and has fifteen minutes to do so.

Part of her wished that one kid—who’s name Piper conveniently forgot—was nearby. She can use that secret passageway to get there faster (if that’s even possible). She starts towards the stairs, following the seventh year Slytherins on their way up.

As she heads towards Divination, Piper starts to think back to the flashes of the dream. If Divination is about the future, she can get an opinion from the Divination Professor on what to do. She follows her fellow Slytherins for a while, following them up the stairs. After a couple of minutes, she makes it to the top of the north tower and looks around. Almost out of breath, she does a full circle until. She turns back around and sees another Slytherin pulling down a ladder from the roof.

_An attic._

She walks up the stairs, her eyes landing on the room in front of her. Her eyes glance to the different Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins taking their seats. Her gaze drops to Annabeth and Rachel, who both share a table.

Annabeth is nose deep in one of her books while Rachel sits around, bouncing her leg, with a smile on her face. Piper saunters towards them, making sure to avoid people as she makes her way over. Both girl look at Piper as she comes to take the remaining seat. “Hello,” Piper greets. “Whatcha reading there?” She questions, turning to Annabeth. Annabeth closes her book and says, “I’m taking Runes as one of my electives and we're assigned homework.”

“Your getting homework?” Rachel questions, grinning. “Nope,” Piper replies. Annabeth only rolls her eyes. Piper glances at Rachel and says, “what class did you have?”

“Herbology with Hufflepuffs. We weren't joined by any other house. It was pleasant,” Rachel says. Piper opens her mouth to reply when the bell rings above her, making all three of their heads snap up in attention. The chatter dies down around them for a minute as the Professor comes walking out.

“Which Professor is this?”

“Professor Trelawney,” Annabeth says, her grey eyes watching the Professor. She walks towards the students, most of them giving the Professor wary glances. Behind her, she hears a Slytherin voice say, “who do you think the professor prophesizes will die this year?” Piper turns her head to the side, trying to inconspicuously find the person who’s talking.

She recognizes the face of Blaise Zabini, one of Draco’s friends. Beside Blaise is Draco and Pansy, who says, “I bet its one of the transfers.” On cue, the three Slytherins turn towards the transfers and Piper turns away from them.

Rachel looks up at her and knits her brows together and says, “what’s wrong?”

Annabeth looks back up at them and says, “I heard Ravenclaws talking about how the Professor is weird.” Rachel snorts and says, “most people who _do_ have the power of seeing into the future can act that way. The spirit of Delphi stops me from becoming that way. Without proper protection, seeing into the future…” Rachel trails off.

“Some say she isn’t even a seer - she hasn’t said anything come true yet.”

“I..” Rachel says, “I have a feeling she is one - but there’s something about her, like a _curse._ ” Rachel knits her brows together as if trying to figure what the curse is by glancing at the professor. “Its most likely nothing,” Annabeth says, waving her head.

Rachel doesn’t look convinced.

“Welcome students,” Professor Trelawney begins, “to Divination class.”

Piper glances up at the Professor’s introduction - her eyebrows raised. “If the students don’t like Professor Trelawney then why don’t people take the other Divination class?” Piper inquires, turning to Annabeth. The blonde frowns and says, “the other divination class has Firenze as its professor. He’s a centaur who uses planets to see the future and predict the outcome.”

Rachel wrinkles her nose and says, “Professor Trelawney seems normal though. They might be overreacting.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Piper says with a shrug. Her head tilts to the side to see the seer—whose hidden by a couple of heads in front of her.

The professor starts walking around the class and when she draws near, all three of them quiet down. The Professor in question glance towards the three girls. She purses her lips and Piper resists the urge to shrink in her seat.

The Professor moves on and Piper swears she can hear Rachel let out a sigh.

“I heard that you want to question Professor Trelawney about seeing into the future,” Annabeth says. Piper snaps her head up, her eyes going to Rachel. Rachel grins and says, “well, the Professor might have seen something relating to the Cultist.” Piper sees Annabeth frown and opens her mouth, “we still don’t know if she’s even a seer. She might not be.” Piper goes to Rachel, who responds, “bet.” Then, the two of them start arguing and Piper’s eyes flicker between the two girls like a tennis game. Piper’s lips quirk up as the argument continued, amusement growing.

Then, the Professor’s voice shoots all three of them out of the argument. The voice, which is closer than expected, says, “I hear that one of our students will not make it to the last day of class before Christmas break.”

Piper turns her head around to face the Professor, whose eyes are on Piper. Piper almost shrinks in her seat at the woman’s gaze, watching her frown in front of Piper. “They may not return…” her voice trails off as she continues down the row of tables.

“Did you hear that?” Piper inquires, turning back to her friends. Annabeth brows furrow and she says, “yeah. She’s staring at you, so it might mean that you’re the one she’s talking about.”

“Christmas break is a long way away,” Rachel interjects, “we might complete our mission by then.”

Something like dread grows in Piper’s stomach, her mind going back to the short vison she been having. It might not turn out that way. The Professors voice comes loud and clear, startling Piper out of her thoughts. “Please open your textbook called ‘ _Visions of the Future.’_ Go to chapter twelve.”

Eager to ignore the ominous warning the Professor gave, Piper grabs her book and flips through the pages. Her fingers stop once her eyes read the words ‘ _Chapter twelve.’_ To her right, Piper can hear Rachel says, “wait—“

The Professors voice cuts through Rachel's, saying, “I don’t start courses like this but—" Piper cuts her attention away from the Professor and onto Rachel. The girl is frowning and is looking at the table with furrowed brows and pursed lips.

Piper glances away from the oracle and turns to the book in front of her. The title is ‘ _Visions of the future,’_ so maybe the book will know something about what’s happening with her. She flips the book over to the front and scrolls through the first two pages to find the table of content.

Her eyes dart across the different chapter titles - one of which is ‘ _blink of visions'._ Doing a dance inside her mind, Piper flips to the chapter. She stops once she reaches ‘ _chapter 12.’_ Her eyes skim through the page and she starts frowning. These are talking about how rare these are, and what they ‘describe.’ She reads the next page.

‘ _The reason why the visions come out as little ‘blinks’ is that the person’s brain isn’t able to hold that much together. Those who seek out a way to connect all the visions together are often too late since it takes so much time. There is still only one known way to connect these visions together._ _It's thought that the only person who was able to connect them all together hated what they saw and threw away the diary_ _. It's well known that this person was able to record what they were doing. They had shown other wizards and witches the steps to connect the visions. No one was able to recover the diary. Some people say that the diary still exists somewhere, in a big library.’_

Piper lets out a groan and both Piper and Annabeth look at her. “What’s wrong?” Annabeth questions, her eyes turning to the book in front of her. Rachel says, “she realized how much we have to read.”

“Its nothing,” Piper says and flips back to chapter twelve, her mind buzzing. _Some say the diary still exists somewhere, in a big library._ Piper purses her lips and turns to Annabeth, “Hogwarts library is big, right?” Annabeth nods her head and says, “I was going there to study Runes - I heard other Ravenclaws talk about it. Why?”

“Just wondering,” Piper says, a new boost of energy refilling her. _I need to ask the professor if there are any divination books in the library._ Piper flips her book to chapter twelve, watching other witches and wizards get to work.

She has to remember to ask the professor about it after class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also went through Trelawnys wiki and her great-great-grandmother was called Cassandra. In ancient Greece, Cassandra was cursed with giving accurate prophecies that no one believed. So I believe that Trelawney has got that curse.


	8. Chapter 7 - Harry Potter™ and why is the caretaker talking to a wall?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no inspiration this week until near the end of the week. I spent all Friday watching the new Season of Umbrella Academy (it's so good!). I find that I can only write good chapters when I'm outside? Or in the middle of the night at 1:00AM? 
> 
> How? 
> 
> Don't understand?
> 
> Also, thanks for almost 900 views, I appreciate it.

Annabeth spends most of her time in class trying to pay attention to Professor Trelawney. It turns out, as a demigod with ADHD, this does not go to plan. Rachel, the one person who doesn’t have ADHD, keeps on whispering to her or Piper. On the other side of Annabeth, Piper has her head against her table, a look of confusion on her face.

Trying to pay attention is out of the question for Annabeth.

Annabeth had more fun in Ancient Runes where there was no one to distract her. A voice to her right says, “if I had a dollar for every time you let out a groan or slammed your head onto the table, I’d be rich.”

“You’re already rich,” the voice to her left says.

“The more money, the better,” the other voice replies.

“I thought you hated being rich," Piper says.

“Oh, I do. I don’t like flaunting around money, _but_ ...” Rachel replies, trailing off. She shrugs and says, "but if I can get money through _this_ , I wouldn't be upset about being rich."

“Oh my gods,” Annabeth hisses to them, making them both look at her. “Can you please be quiet for one minute?”

Rachel and Piper share a knowing look and both turn to her. _Why did I bother speaking to them? They're going to make things worse._

“Are we upsetting you?” Rachel says with a grin.

“We can’t be distracting you since we saw you looking out the window two minutes ago,” Piper says a second later.

With a groan, Annabeth places her hands on her face, shaking her head. “We’re supposed to be listening to Professor Trelawney!”

"We're not the ones stopping you. We both saw you looking out that window before we started talking,” Piper points out. Rachel snorts and says, “she could have spotted Percy outside and started checking him out.”

Annabeth opens her mouth to argue with the two of them when the bell above them rings. All three of them startle out of their argument. Around them, chairs scrape against the floor as people burst from their chairs. All students grab their bags and saunter towards the door. Annabeth, Piper, and Rachel all race to follow. The three walk out of the Divination classroom and down the staircase. “We have like fifteen minutes to get to our next classes,” Rachel says after a minute, "which is on the first floor."

They reach the second set of hallways and Annabeth groans. _This is going to take forever._

“Then it's a good thing that I have a free period,” Piper says with a grin as they walk down a set of stairs.

“I have Muggle Studies,” Rachel says.

“So do I,” Annabeth says. Rachel glances at the other girls and says, “great, we can all walk together to the first floor.”

Piper blanches and says, “the first floor is so far away!”

Rachel giggles and Annabeth rolls her eyes. “At least we’ll have our steps in,” Annabeth says

After countless minutes of walking down staircases, they come across a classroom. Kids wait outside, talking to one another, none looking ready to head in. At the top of the door, a sign with the words ' _History of Magic_ ' sprawls across it. Annabeth glances at the room and says, “doesn’t a ghost run this class?”

“My training manual said the ghost goes by 'Professor Binns',” Piper says. Annabeth shoots her look and says, “training manual?”

“A Slytherin gave me a sheet of paper, telling me what and what not do here. A lot of them were instructions on how to avoid angering the ‘high tiers’ in the Slytherin house,” Piper explains. Rachel snickers and says, “high tiers? They have their own Hierarchy over there?”

“Seems like it,” Piper says.

“You know,” Annabeth says, “if Nico can control ghosts, he could get away without doing any work for History of magic.”

“How about we ask Nico to try and talk to every ghost at Hogwarts. We’re supposed to stop the students at Hogwarts from getting kidnapped. We can ask the ghost if they’ve seen anything mysterious,” Rachel says.

“Maybe the ghosts are purposefully trying to avoid Nico,” Piper says. "He can't control you if you're not in his reach, " Piper reasons and Annabeth rolls her eyes. "If the wizarding community doesn’t know about the gods, why would the ghosts know about them?”

“They could have gotten a snippet of the underworld before they became ghosts,” Piper says. Annabeth purses her lips and shakes her head. Annabeth turns to Piper and says, “the underworld appears to them to what religion they believe in. I doubt they saw anything.”

“You're no fun,” Piper jokes.

“Yeah, I would have loved to see—” Rachel’s cut off when they hear a bunch of first years screaming. All three of them look at one another. Concern rushes through Annabeth and she starts running towards the edge of the hall. She can hear Rachel and Piper following close behind. _Why would the first years be screaming for? What if a cultist managed to find a way in?_

As they turn the corner, a ghost comes flying past them, his laughter echoing through the halls. As the ghost flies past, Piper yelps and stumbles into Annabeth's arm, whose face turned white. She's never seen a ghost before outside the underworld before. She didn't expect them to be _so_... odd and scary looking.

The ghost doesn't pay them any attention as he goes by the three girls. His laughter is still heard after he disappeared into one of the walls. The laugh echoes through the hall, making some students look at one another.

A minute later, the caretaker comes running by, looking disgruntled. Annabeth recognizes the man as Argus Filch, the caretaker. The man in question turns to the wall and narrows his eyes.

“Damn ghost! I’ll get you one day. When I do, you'll be out!” The man shouts at the wall, which does not respond to him. Students walking past him give him concerned and confused looks. It's not every day you see an angry man shouting at a wall to 'get out.'

“Is this a regular occurrence?” Piper whispers to the two of them. Annabeth can hear Piper's heartbeat against her own chest. The daughter of Aphrodite hasn't moved from Annabeth's arms. No one gives Piper a reply as they all stare at the wall.

“That scared the living Hades out of me,” Piper says a second later. Annabeth says, “I could tell.”

“I'm hoping we won’t see that ghost for the rest of the day,” Rachel says. Her eyes are still on the caretaker, who’s glaring at the wall with distaste. He doesn't seem to notice the looks he's given from passing students.

“We should start walking again,” Annabeth says, “I’d rather not be late.”

“Yeah, that’ll be bad for the first day of school,” Rachel says.

“Speaking of school, why did you two make Muggle Studies one of your courses? We all live in the ‘muggle’ world,” Piper says. Rachel shrugs, “I wouldn't know. I'm the only muggle here and I somehow ended up taking that class.”

“You couldn’t be muggle cause you’re able to use magic,” Annabeth says.

“Wait—What?” Rachel says, making her brows furrow.

“That could be a reason why you’re able to see through the mist,” Piper says. “You two are screwing with me,” Rachel says after a minute.

A minute or so of silence goes by as they continue down the stairs.

“Wait a minute,” Piper says after a minute, panic in her voice. Both heads turn to her and Annabeth says, “what's wrong?”

“I forgot to ask Professor Trelawney something,” Piper says with a groan. “Same with me,” Rachel says.

“It’s too late now,” Annabeth says, glancing towards the two girls. “I know,” Piper groan. “I’m sure you can talk to her later,” Annabeth says a minute afterwards.

* * *

They make it to the first floor without any more problems. Annabeth glances at her friends and sees the disappointment on Piper’s face. “You’re looking for a book, right?” Annabeth asked. Piper looks up and says, “Yeah, why?”

“I’m sure you can ask the librarian,” Annabeth says. “Perhaps,” Piper says. “I’ve got things to do at the minute, and I’m going try to try to perfect my skill at the water charm I’m practising. I’ll do it on a day that I’m free,” Piper said.

“Besides, I’m hungry because I only had one piece of toast. I’m going to go see if there’s food left,” Piper says. As soon as they say that, the great hall comes into view. Piper gives them a wave and says, “I’ll see you two later.

With that, Annabeth and Rachel are alone. The air around them is awkward and Annabeth wonders if she should start an argument. No other reason besides stopping the awkwardness (though Annabeth loves bickering with Rachel). “How much time is there?” Rachel says, breaking the silence before Annabeth can. Rachel's eyes glance at the small number of students walking around them. “Four minutes. At least, that's what it said the last time I checked,” Annabeth says

“It’s a good thing that the Muggle Studies room is around the corner then,” Rachel replies. "Imagine if both of us were late," Rachel jokes.

Annabeth doesn't reply.

They turn the corner and come face-to-face with the muggle studies room. "That was easy," Rachel says, peering inside the room. Annabeth heads inside, noticing the large number of students sitting down. At the front of the desk, the muggle Professor sits, her eyes trained on the paper in front of her. She doesn't seem to notice their appearance.

“There are two open spots over there," Rachel says, gesturing to the seats near the corner of the room. "It looks like the only seats left over," Annabeth says, stating the obvious.

"Thanks, Annie, I wouldn't have noticed without your help," Rachel says, sarcasm clear in her voice.

Annabeth chose to ignore this by heading towards the open seats and Rachel hurries after her. As soon as they sat down, the bell above them rings, signalling the start of class.

The Muggles studies Professor looks up, then looks around the room. Noticing the lack of empty seats, the Professor grins. "I'm glad to see everyone is here," the Professor says, making all the students look up.

"My name is Professor Niles, and I'm your new Muggle Studies Professor. I hope I'll get to know you guys," the professor says. _That sounds a bit ominous._

* * *

The class goes by within a blink of an eye, and Ananbeth’s surprised by how fast the day goes. She's already finished all her first period classes.

Above her, the bell lets out a shrill ring, making all the students look up from their seats. Looking around the room, she notices all the students grabbing their things. The students—Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs—say their goodbyes to their friends as they off for lunch. _Oh good, it's lunch time._

Beside Annabeth, she can hear Rachel get up from her seat. "This is where we part," Rachel says, reaching out for Annabeth with her hand. Annabeth raises her eyebrows and Rachel giggles. "I was trying to make it seem dramatic, I guess it didn't work," Rachel says, a grin spreading across her face.

"I'm sure if I was Piper, she would finish the act for you," Annabeth replies. "I know, we would win an oscar by how talented we are," Rachel agrees. "It would be all over the news; how Piper is following in her Father's footsteps," Rachel says.

Annabeth only rolls her eyes, "we're only going to lunch. We share Care of Magical creatures at the end of the day." Rachel purses her lips and says, "you suck at making things dramatic, you know that?"

"It's my talent," Annabeth promises, making Rachel snort. "Anyway," Rachel says, "I've got to see Professor Trelawney. I also have to make a stop in my common room for something.

She gives Annabeth a long look, "and I'd rather make things fast since I don't want to miss Lunch."

With that, the redhead picks up her books and saunters out of the room. Annabeth, realizing she's alone in the room, picks up her bags and rushes out of the room and into the hallway.

As she walks down the hall, she makes a list in her head. She’ll stop by her dorm first to pack away the books she doesn’t need. Then -

She hears someone say, “Ms. Chase?” Annabeth raises her brows. She didn't hear anyone approach her and the hallway is very echoey. Annabeth spins around to see the Muggle Studies Professor walking towards her, a wand in her hand.

“Yes?” Annabeth inquires, her eyes glancing over the Professor. Annabeth thinks over the things she might have done to upset the Professor. She hadn't talked in the class like Divination.

“You forgot your wand, dear,” Professor Niles says.

A blink of relief shoots through Annabeth as she takes the wand from Professor Niles’s hands. Annabeth, trying to force the surprise out of her voice, says, “thank you.” The Professor smiles at her and says, “no worries."

Then, the Professor glances at Annabeth and the stairs behind her. "Say, your heading to the Ravenclaw tower right?” Professor Niles inquires, tilting her head to the side.

“I would be, yes,” Annabeth says, putting her wand in her pocket. I don't even know where the classroom is. At this, the Professor brightens and brings out a note from her pocket. “Please give this note to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. I got sidetracked earlier in the morning and couldn’t give it to him sooner,” the Professor states.

“Sure,” Annabeth says, taking the note from the Professor’s hands. The professor turns around and starts walking away. “Wait—uh, where is the Defense Against the Dark Arts room?” Annabeth calls out to the Professor.

“It’s on the third floor. Once you get to the main hall, turn right. Start walking until you reach his classroom,” the Professor explains. “Thanks,” Annabeth says.

“No problem, dear,” the Professor says. Annabeth drops her gaze to the note for a minute, her eyes scanning it before looking back up. Turning back towards the stairs, she begins walking once again.

Annabeth can feel the Professor’s gaze on her as she walks away.

* * *

It does feel like a workout after a while. With her book-filled bag in one hand and the letter in the other, it's only a matter of time until she drops something. Not to mention the fact that Annabeth would die if she walked onto a moving staircase.

She makes it to the third floor without any problems, which is surprising. As she walks towards the main hall, she stops to let out a group of Ravenclaws and Slytherins walk past her. Her eyes watch the group walk past, all laughing with one another. Shaking her head, she begins her walk towards the main hall on the main floor. Her mind goes back and starts repeating the words the Professor told her.

The Professor seems nice enough, but there’s something odd about her. Annabeth can’t exactly place it. She seems... _too_ nice. She's known and fought enough monsters to know that nice isn't always good.

She looks around the hall, her eyes searching for the nearest right turn. She finds it when a group of Gryffindor boys come racing from the hall, all laughing and giggling.

Annabeth takes a good step back as the Gryffindors race by her, their voices echoing off the stone walls. Annabeth watches them go with raised brows and shakes her head. She doesn’t want to know what a group of boys are doing here, especially if they're run out laughing.

She continues her quest to find the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Or the DADA Professor, as the Ravenclaw students refer to the class as. As she draws closer towards the room, she hears the faint sound of classical music playing.

Curious now, Annabeth steps forward, her feet quiet against the stone. The classical music stops and for a minute, Annabeth fears that the Professor heard her. Then a minute later, she hears a new song player.

_Wait, why am I afraid that the Professor might hear me? I’m here to deliver him a note from another Professor._

With a shake of her head, Annabeth knocks on the closed door. A minute goes by and Annabeth wonders if she should knock again. She knocks once more and the music stops a second later. A voice,  oddly  familiar says, “come in.”

Annabeth opens the door and walks through, making sure it stays open behind her. She looks up to see a face she does not expect. “Chiron?” Annabeth sputters, her brows rising. Chiron turns his head up to Annabeth and chuckles, “I go by Professor Brunner here.”

“Professor Brunner,” Annabeth corrects herself. “What are you doing here? I thought you were back at camp to help with the new demigods,” Annabeth says, her eyes zeroed onto her old mentor. “I’m here because you guys need help. You need to teach the students how to use weapons as self-defence,” Chiron explains.

“Who’s looking after camp?” Annabeth says, crossing her arms, forgetting the letter.

“Dionysus has returned for I don’t know how long,” Chiron says. Annabeth opens her mouth and says, "do you expect to see a camp when you return a year later?" Chiron chuckles and says adds, “I return in four months. After that, it’s up to you to teach them.”

“You can’t exactly leave in the middle of the year,” Annabeth says. “By the magic rate growing around here, there won’t even be half a year,” Chiron says. He spins around in his wheelchair to finally come face-to-face with Annabeth.

Annabeth says, “no one’s tried to attack Hogwarts yet.”

"They will. They're going to go after the one's who aren't in the school," Chiron says. He gazes towards the window as if to tell Annabeth that the cultists are going to be kidnapping people on the field. She doesn't know how since you can see everything happening out there.

She snaps back to attention when she hears Chiron speaking. He says, “I have set a plan with one of the Professors here to assure the exchange of Professors goes  smoothly.”

“Oh, wait,” Annabeth says, “speaking out of Professors.” The daughter of Athena hands the note to Chiron, who takes it with a wary glance. “Thank you, Ms. Chase,” Chiron says, slipping the note into his pocket. A moment after, Annabeth’s stomach starts to rumble.

“That’s my cue to leave,” Annabeth says and Chiron nods his head, “I believe  so."

Annabeth spins around and walks out of the room, closing the door on the way out. “Now, to change my books around,” Annabeth says, muttering to herself. Her stomach growls at her suggestion as if upset at the thought of going to her dorm first.

“Fine,” Annabeth grumbles. She looks around the hall for a minute, before heading towards the great hall.

* * *

Ana peers inside the file, looking at all the potential victims her new faction has planned out. Her gaze drops to the two names crossed out, her gaze drawing to the second name crossed out in red. She reads the report given by the Investigators and Aurors.

_Cause of Death: Unknown but suspected Death by burning_

_Time of Death: September 1st, 2011_

_The body has not been found. The family is in mourning._

Ana’s throat closes in on her as she rereads the last line. _The family is in mourning_. With tears in her eyes, Ana rips her eyes away from the report and peers up at her surroundings. She doesn’t exactly know where she apparated herself to. She’s standing in a field of wheat, which hasn't had the chance to be harvested.

Behind her, an old farmhouse is eroding away until there’s nothing left.

She hasn’t left the field yet and it isn’t the house Lord Ashiva told her to look at. It’s much too small to be a mansion.

_Sorry, it's Ashiva. Not lord Ashiva._

She has 14 days to find this ex-member, then she becomes a full-time leader. She doesn't know what will happen if she doesn't get the ex-member on time.

Shaking her head, Ana looks back at the report.

_The funeral is on September 6th,_

She reads the date, her mind ringing. Six days away—no, that’s five days away now. She’s already spent one day crying and praying to her goddess that her friend’s death wasn’t in vain. _You’re a member of the ducibus faction. Act like your stronger. You were raised for this moment. Hundreds of others deserve your place if you're going to act all whiny about it._

Ana sucks in a breath and peers down at the report. _I’ll go to the funeral. I’ll be there for you, my old friend. I’ll remember you._

With newfound determination, she closes the file and drops her gaze to the farmhouse. There’s bound to be information about the ex-member here. With a shaky breath that she tries to conceal, she walks towards the building. Her silver eyes glance at the house, determination spreading through her.

_To not be afraid and to be cautious at the same time? It’s in our nature to have one of the two, but not both._

* * *

Annabeth hurries in the direction of Potions class, her arms wrapped around the books she has. When she had gotten her books from her dorm room, she had looked at the time and had to stop herself from screaming. She's going to be late if she didn't run.

Not to mention the fact that potions class is in the dungeon.

After setting down her old books, she rushed out of the Ravenclaw tower.

Now, she rushes to get to her class, her footsteps thundering down the hall. “Annabeth,” she hears a voice call. She tries to ignore it. It comes again, this time louder, " _Annabeth_!" Taking a breath, Annabeth looks behind her, stopping her quick pace.

She sees Rachel rushing towards her, her hair flying as she races towards Annabeth. “Its important,” Rachel puffs out when she reaches Annabeth’s side. “What’s wrong?” Annabeth inquires, panic surging through her

Rachel takes a deep breath and sighs. A minute later, she shakes her head and says, “I talked with Professor Trelawney. I—I may or may not have gone into oracle state.”

The first thing that came to mind is saying, “like going into the avatar state?” Annabeth will later disagree that this is not the first thing that came to mind.

Rachel blinks for a minute, surprised, and lets out a tiny laugh. “You watched that?”

“Conner and Travis Stoll found the DVDs in a corner store. They decided everyone should watch them,” Annabeth says with a dismissive wave. Rachel gives Annabeth a look. “We were all like fourteen at the time,” she adds a second later.

Rachel hums, taking the information in, and looks at Annabeth. “Anyway,” she says, “I tried to produce the next line’s of the prophecy but it didn’t work. Like I - me, not the oracle - was trying to stop myself from speaking the next lines.”

“That… is _odd_ ,” Annabeth says, “that may have something to do with the god the cultist are trying to summon.”

“Professor Trelawney said something about me not being in the right set of mind but…” Rachel shrugs. “Wait,” Annabeth says, “Professor Trelawney was fine with it?”

Rachel grins and says, “she said that all seers are different. Not suspicious about anything at all.”

“Have you told anyone else?” Annabeth inquires, her gaze going to a set of Slytherins who are walking past. “No, you’re the smart one, remember?” Rachel says with a smirk.

“We need to figure out who these cultists are… and we need that prophecy to finish. You should go to the library with Piper and look for books. It'll help clear your mind if you're trying to find a way to make the prophecy work,” Annabeth says.

“Great idea,” Rachel says, her voice sarcastic, “I didn’t think of that earlier.”

“Though, you should be getting to class,” Rachel adds with a smile. Annabeth glances down at her watch, _five minutes_.

“I’ve got to go,” Annabeth says and spins away from Rachel, who laughs as Annabeth disappears down the hall. As she starts walking down a set of stairs, she hears a new set of footsteps behind her. Annabeth almost groans.

“Hey Annabeth,” Hazel says, walking towards her. Annabeth peers behind her, spying her small friend walk towards her. Annabeth glances from Hazel to the watch she got from another Ravenclaw. “Annabeth can I a—"

“I’m sorry Hazel, I’ve got things to do,” Annabeth explains. I’m going to be late for class. Again. Hazal opens and closes her mouth, looking defeated. A minute later, she watches Hazel walk away. Annabeth raised her brows to the girl walking away. _Why is she out of character? She was fine two days ago._

Shaking her head, Annabeth turns back around and runs down the stairs. She rushes by people, trying to avoid knocking people into the ground. A minute later, she’s in the dungeon area and Annabeth’s body shivers.

_I feel bad for Piper and Nico._

As she walks past the halls, the coldness sets in and Annabeth’s thankful for her cloak. She watches the Slytherins and Ravenclaws rush past her. They all seem to be in a hurry to get to Potions. As she steps towards the hall, she feels a hand wrap around her shoulder. She jumps back into the person at the sudden contact.

Annabeth looks up to see Percy walking beside her, Jason, Reyna, and Thalia nearby. “You’re shivering like mad,” Percy says, wrapping Annabeth closer to him. “Yeah, I don’t know how anyone can live down here for almost a whole year,” Annabeth says.

“It’ll have to make do,” says Piper, appearing to Annabeth’s left. “Everyone seems used to it, so I guess I will too,” Piper says, glancing at some of the Ravenclaws walking past.

As they head into the potions classroom, she can hear Thalia says, “I bet one of us will cause something to explode.”

She hears Percy say, “and I bet it’s going to be you.”

Thalia tilts her head to the side and says, “nope. It’s going to be you, Kelp head. Last time I checked, potions were liquid.”

Percy scoffs and says, “well, you could always spill the potion. Then put electricity through it and electrocute someone when they walk past.”

Thalia opens her mouth to reply when Jason says, “guys—we don’t want anyone to overhear us.”

Thalia only rolls her eyes and says, “your safe, for now, Jackson.” As soon as she turns away from Percy, she goes and takes an empty seat near the back of the classroom. Reyna joins her a second later, her eyes bright with amusement.

Annabeth and Percy stroll towards the front of the class, looking around. They take the closest seat available, which is near the front of the classroom. This leaves two seats open - which are beside each other. Piper and Jason give each other a glance before they slowly move towards the open seats.

Percy and Annabeth watch them for a minute. Percy says, “either the fates are cruel—or they want them back together.” Annabeth snickers and says, “they’re still friends, I don’t see why they are making things awkward.”

Percy leans in close and whispers, “I mean, they did break up like a week ago.” Annabeth rolls her eyes and turns away from the pair behind them. As Annabeth places her books on her table, the Professor walks in.

A second after, the bell rings.

The Professor walks towards the front of the class, looking happy. “Welcome back everybody to your final year at Hogwarts,” the Professor says. At the back of her mind, Annabeth tries to remember the Potion’s Professor’s name.

_Professor -_

_It starts with an S_

_I think._

_Oh yeah, its Professor Slughhowl_

_Wait, no._

_Professor Slughorn._

_There we go._

She snaps back to attention when she hears the voice above her begins again. She glances at professor Slughorn, tuning her attention up.

She must have missed something. She looks up as he says, “today we’ll be learning about the wit-sharpening potion.”

Everybody seems to be waiting for something, their eyes glued to him. A second later, he adds, “the first person to correctly create the potion, will be able to keep a small amount of it. For the future of course. You have forty minutes to complete this and everything is in the textbook.”

With this, it became a free-for-all. Percy and she look at one another and he says, “I guess we’re teaming up?”

“You’d be correct,” Annabeth says. At the front of the room, the Professors voice rings out, “the ingredients are on the board.”

“Perce, I need you to open the textbook and look for the instruction,” Annabeth says. Percy looks up at her and says, “where are the ingredients.”

Annabeth looks up at the room. She spots Harry walking over to one of the cabinets and grabbing some supplies from them. “We’re able to look through the cabinets,” Annabeth says, watching Harry walk back to his cauldron. Annabeth peers up at the chalkboard, reading the ingredients as students rush by.

_Ginger, Armadillo Bile, and Ground Scarab beetles_. Annabeth wrinkles her nose at the ingredients needed. “Annie, you might want to hurry up. The ingredients are disappearing fast,” Percy says beside her.

“I’m on it,” Annabeth mutters. She turns around and races towards the cabinet. She slides through the crowd of students reaching for the ingredients. She grabs the ingredients and runs back towards Percy, whose textbook is flipped open.

“What does it say?” Annabeth inquires, rushing him. “Uh… Something about adding ginger root until a lime green colour appears,” Percy says. “Great,” Annabeth says. She pours the ginger into the cauldron, watching it turn different shades of green.

A couple of feet away, Annabeth spies Piper’s cauldron turning blue. Then, Annabeth looks around to see most students are moving faster than her and Percy. “I think that’s enough ginger,” Percy says, his voice making Annabeth tilt the ginger away.

“Okay, let’s get moving,” Annabeth says. They start adding the other ingredients, making sure to follow the rules. From the corner of her vision, Annabeth sees Reyna and Thalia’s cauldron turning purple.

Annabeth furrows her brows as she looks down at their cauldron. Did they do something wrong? She looks up when she hears the Professor approach. The man peers down at their potion and frowns, “too much ginger.”

Annabeth’s cheeks turn red as the Professor moves on. Great.

Then, she hears Thalia and Reyna say, “Professor Slughorn?  I think  we completed our potion.” The Professor looks up and walks towards them. Somehow, Annabeth isn’t surprised that they’re the first people to complete it.

“We tried,” Percy says, making Annabeth look up.

“Yeah,” Annabeth replies. Behind her, she hears Professor Slughorn say, “marvellous. Well done girls.” Most students in the room turn towards Reyna and Thalia, who are both grinning. Annabeth watches the Professor take two small vases out from his pocket. He hands them to the girls, who take's them eagerly. “Fill them up, and you two are ready to go,” Professor Slughorn says.

The two of them look at one another and say their thanks to the Professor. Annabeth sighs and turns to Percy, “we have twenty more minutes to figure out this potion.”

“Then let’s get moving,” Percy says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Homegirl Ana feeling guilty about murdering her BFF. Character development soon to come?? 
> 
> The next chapter is called 'A ghost worries about students sleeping schedules' 
> 
> I didn't mean to accidentally start shipping Annabeth with Rachel (or Piper), yet here we are.


	9. Chapter 8 - A ghost is worried for students sleep schedules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot about quidditch existing
> 
> Also, concerned! Hermione???
> 
> If anyone is from Wattpad, I combined the two chapters together because why not?

**_The Sixth day at Hogwarts_ **

The first week of Hogwarts went along without any trouble. Harry supposes it doesn’t mean anything since most school years start that way. There _was_ a buzz in the air about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Some students started speculating how the new Professor ended up in a wheelchair.

Harry doesn't know how the Professor managed to get up three sets of stairs, but he'd rather not question it.

Harry’s first DADA class with the Professor was interesting… to say the least.

“He might have gotten into an accident or was born that way,” Hermione says. It snaps Harry from his thoughts, who looks between the two of them with raised brows. “I think Dean is right—he was fighting a monster and crushed his leg. He could have been fighting a death eater,” Ron says.

“It’s unlikely,” Hermione says. “My theory sounds better,” Ron replies. Harry can almost see Hermione narrowing her eyes at Ron. She says, “you just said _Dean_ created the theory.” 

Ron shrugs his shoulder and says, “He created the first one, _I_ created the second. Besides, mine sounded better and more realistic.” Harry can hear Hermione sigh behind him. Harry glances back at the two of them, the wind blowing into Harry’s face.

He wonders if he’ll be able to escape them and change into his Quidditch gear without them noticing. “Isn’t weird how all the transfers seemed to know about Professor Brunner?” Ron inquires. Raising his brows, Harry says, “he could have taught at Ilvermorney too.”

“He gave no clue on to what happened to his legs..” Ron trails off. Harry sighs and says, “it could be personal. Besides, no one’s asking him what happened.”

“So far, he’s a pretty decent Professor from what the other students are saying,” Hermione says. She glances at the two of them before coming over to sit on the bench beside Ron. Harry has to move an inch for there to be room. “He doesn’t have anything on the back of his head to cover up Voldemorts face like Professor Quirell,” Harry says. “He isn’t a self-centred lying prat that didn’t teach anything like Professor Lockhart,” Ron says. He then adds, “ _yet._ ”

“I hear he hasn’t gotten better and is still in St. Mungo’s,” Hermione joins in. “A blessing to the wizarding world, I say,” Ron says. Hermione doesn’t bother saying anything. “We might have to wait a full year to see if the Professor took a polyjuice potion. You never know if he'll be pretending to be a Professor,” Harry jokes.

"Just what we need," Ron grumbles. "There isn't a reason why anyone will dress up as a Professor though," Harry says.

“If a student goes missing from Hogwarts then we’ll know who to blame,” Ron says. Harry snorts, trying to image Professor Brunner wheeling down to halls of Hogwarts. A bag that suspiciously looks like a body would be dragging behind him, the head thumping down every step. It's certainly an entertaining idea. 

Hermione seems to get the same idea and says, “I doubt that.”

“Then how’d he get up the stairs?”

Hermione doesn’t respond for a minute, trying to figure out how a Professor would get up the stairs without help. Harry’s too busy imagining Professor Brunner trying to be inconspicuous to help form an idea.

“Well, he’s no Umbridge,” Hermione says after a minute. Ron and Harry both voice their agreements a short second after, both saying 'yep.'

“He isn’t rude or hasn’t used physical abuse as a form of detention,” Hermione says. “How would you know? You haven’t got detention from him, or anyone that I remember,” Ron says, narrowing his eyes at her. Hermione only rolls her eyes.

“He isn’t Snape,” Harry says, “who gave points to houses he favoured.”

“Something still feels odd about him,” Ron says. “I agree,” Harry says. Hermione only crosses her arms and shakes her head. "You guys are suspicious about him only because of the mystery of how he got upstairs!”

“You’re saying it like it’s obvious how he got up there,” Ron says and Harry grins. Before Hermione has the chance to respond, Harry gets to his feet. Hermione and Ron both turn to him for an explanation for his sudden movement.

“I’m going to change for Quidditch tryouts. If others come by, tell them they’re allowed to warm-up around the field," Harry explains.

“Wait—” Ron says, “I haven’t changed yet too.”

“You two go change,” Hermione says, “I’ll keep an eye out for everyone.” Harry and Ron run off, Ron waving goodbye to Hermione.

As Harry walks towards the castle, he sees Ginny rushing past, a grin on her face. She gives Harry a wave as she runs past, her broom swinging beside her.

"I'm her brother and she doesn't even wave at me," Ron grumbles behind Harry, but his tone is light.

Harry just grins and starts running, making Ron yelp and yell, "wait for me!"

* * *

When Harry and Ron appeared back at the bench near the field, Harry can see Ginny flying around. He waves to her, who grins and waves back. She slopes down low to meet them, her hair flying around. “Join me, Ron,” Ginny says, “it looks like you haven’t had the chance too yet.”

Ron leans down to whisper to Harry, “why do I feel like I’m going to flying into the dirt in a couple of minutes from now?” Harry only grins and says, “you have to find out.”

When Ron looks back up, Ginny is already back in the pitch, swooping around the hoops. Harry peers at the other figures in the sky that Harry didn’t notice - he was only focusing on Ginny. “She thinks she’s so good,” Ron grumbles.

Harry watches Ron take off on his broom, flying up towards the quidditch pitch. The sun is bright in the sky, and the wind is soft, making it visible for Harry to see everyone flying around. Harry glances at the list Professor—Headmistress McGonagall gave Harry. The list was large, which is not unexpected since he asked her how many people were trying out.

Looking through the list, Harry realized that most of the students he had seen before are gone. The two beaters he had on his team in sixth year haven't returned to retake their seventh year. Other names haven’t graced the page, like Katie Bell, who graduated in Harry's Sixth Year.

The only people Harry can form a bias on when choosing the players are Ron and Ginny.

News had been buzzing around the school that the Ravenclaws had their tryouts last night. Among the whispers, Harry heard that one of the transfers had managed to win a place at Chaser. Harry didn't manage to catch the name.

The Slytherins would be trying out tonight, an hour before dusk hits. If the tryouts are anything like Sixth year, Harry only hopes that the tryouts wouldn't be as long. He would hate to be in the middle of tryouts when the Slytherins come out, deciding it was _their_ time now.

“Do you think he’s going to be Keeper?”

Harry jumps from his thoughts, his eyes looking around the owner of the voice. His eyes land on Hermione after a minute. The Gryffindor girl has her eyes pinned onto Ron, her knuckles turning white around her grip on her wand. If Harry was someone else, he would think Hermione would be ready to save Ron if he fell from his broom. She could be doing that too, but Harry isn't too sure.

“I have no idea,” Harry says. “There’s a chance that there’s a better Keeper out there. I can’t have favourites,” Harry says with a grin. Hermione only huffs out some air and eyes move around the quidditch field.

A second later, Hermione plops onto the bench and grabs her bag propped against the bench. She glances back at the quidditch pitch before pulling one of her books out. “I hope Ron knows that there is a small DADA quiz in a couple of days, “ Hermione sighs. Then, she turns to Harry and says, “do you want to study? We have at least twenty minutes until the tryouts start.”

Harry opens his mouth to object, “actually—“ Hermione plops open the DADA book, along with all the notes. “This is due on Thursday. We should start practising now and I want us to at least _try,”_ Hermione says.

With a sigh, she flips the textbook to the cover, where a picture of a wand and sword are laid out beside each other. Harry takes a minute to read the title of the book. He doesn't get the chance to read the title out because Hermione flips the book around.

Hermione grabs something else from her pocket, which Harry recognizes as flashcards. Harry blinks back his surprise and says, “you’re worried about this, aren’t you?”

Hermione opens her mouth to respond when both of them hear Ron zip back down to meet them at the bench. His hair is windswept and he looks to be breathing hard. Hermione glances up at him and says, “I didn’t realize we can use weapons that aren’t wands to harness magic.”

“Yeah,” Ron breathes out, “wasn’t Professor Brunner’s lesson about wands being more stable? Wands cause fewer accidental death then blades and stuff.”

Then, he tilts his head to the side and says, “what are we talking about?”

“We have a quiz for DADA,” Harry responds. “Something about…” Harry trails off. “How you have to be in the right mindset to combine magic with weapons. Also all the safety protocols you have to follow,” Hermione finishes.

“I’m pretty sure there’s something else,” Ron says. “The types of material that can only be used to make the magic work with blades. It’s like how certain types of woods work well with magic,” Hermione says.

“When’s the quiz?” Ron questions.

“Five days from now, excluding today,” Hermione says.

“I’ve got time to study,” Ron says.

“Do you remember the _names_ of the material?”

“Uh… one of them is Imperial Gold.”

“That’s one of four,” Hermione says.

“Thanks, I didn’t notice.”

“Can you try naming the other’s ones?”

“Uh… Drakon Bone, Celestial Bronze? And Staygold Iron,” Ron says.

“Stygian Iron, but close enough,” Hermione says. She turns to Harry, who jumps back from her gaze. “Which one is the rarest?”

“Rarest what?” Harry asked, not paying attention to the conversation Hermione and Ron were having. It was obvious he had no idea what the two of them were talking about.

Hermione sighs and Ron snickers. “Rarest weapon,” Hermione says after a minute. “Oh… Celestial Bronze,” Harry says, thinking back to the lesson.

The DADA Professor mentioned for the next class, they would start transforming their wands. The wand will transform into a sword or any type of bladed object. By the Professor's words, this will only happen if they manage to get the basic’s down and ace the test. This sparked the attention of everyone in the room, their eyes immediately widening. Harry hates to imagine a bunch of eighteen-year-olds with swords. It would be something that would cause chaos.

It’s not a comforting image, to Harry at least.

When Harry looks up at the field, he notices how full it is. “Only two minutes until tryouts,” Hermione says to Harry. “Then I better get this show on the road,” Harry mutters. He approaches the group, his eyes going over the different people he tries to recognize.

He spots two transfer students on the field. The other two transfers were sitting on the benches, cheering them on. _So it looks like the transfer did seem to tryout._

Harry had watched two of them try out their brooms earlier in the day, and they seemed to take it naturally. The other two look petrified at the idea of riding a broom. _It's not for everyone._

Behind him, Ron gets on his broom and starts flying towards the group of people. Amongst the crowd, Harry can see Ginny talking to one of the transfers; Reyna.

He also sees Dean Thomas and Demelza Robins, the second being in the same year as Ginny. In all, everyone seems to be new.

“Okay,” Harry calls out, making some nearby players fly towards him. They stop short above the ground and Harry looks over the faces. Harry eyes a group of kids who seem nervous approaching their brooms. _At least they’ll be some I can pick out without thinking._

“There’s a lot of new faces here, so I want to set out the tryout rules. Everyone trying out for chaser will go first, then the beaters, then the Keeper,” Harry says. He faintly wonders if anyone can hear him. Almost sounding rehearsed, Harry says, “most of you will not make it to the team. That doesn't mean you shouldn't stop trying. You can always improve your skills for next year. Every spot in Quidditch is open except Seeker. We’ll have three substitutes in case of an emergency.”

Harry waves his hand and the ground disperses. The players who weren’t trying out for chasers either flew to the edges of the field to watch. Some went and sat down on one of the benches. Harry gets on his broom and flew to the side, getting a good view of everyone.

He counts the number of people remaining, which happens to be ten.

“You’ll try to get the quaffle,” Harry holds up the ball, “into the hoops without anyone guarding it. The second time, someone _will_ be guarding it. The third, you’ll be paired with some other chasers.”

The first three students couldn’t get on their brooms without turning white, so Harry sent them on their way. The next one, Amelia Case, only manages to get one of four hoops. By the end of it, Harry’s surprised there wasn’t any other house sneaking around. It happened in his sixth year and he doubts it won’t happen again.

“Ginny, your up,” Harry calls. Ginny grins as the quaffle starts flying into the field. After four successful quaffles through the hoop without a keeper, he signals for Ginny to stop. Harry signals for a Keeper to come in and guard the hoops, to try and stop Ginny from scoring. Lest to say, Ginny managed to get all but one in.

“Okay,” Harry calls, “ I want these three groups together.”

He calls out, “Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas, and Demelza Robins. Go and play together and try to get the quaffle through the hoops.”

Harry’s gaze follows the three of them, passing the quaffle between each other. The three seem to be working harmoniously together without any problems. They follow each other's movements and go to copy them. They get all four quaffles in.

Harry calls the next three pairs of chasers, all looking anxious. They're eliminated shortly afterwards when all three collide with one another. They nearly fell from their brooms and were told to move to the ground for their safety. Once they reach the grass, they all jumped off their brooms in a hurried matter. A second later, the three of them started walking around, their movements disoriented.

Harry, after a while, decided on Ginny, Dean, and Demelza as the chaser. When Harry called out their names to play against the Keepers, the three all shared a knowing look. _They were going to make the team._

Next came the Keepers. The first kid had the body physique of a rhino and swiftness of a turtle. Less to say, four out of five balls had gone through the different hoops. The kid had looked surprised when Harry told him that he wasn’t built to be a Keeper.

The next Keeper was a fourth year, who’s arms were shaking. Lanky as the student was, he managed to keep five goals out of six. Harry tried not to show concern, which was the fact that the kid wouldn’t survive a windy match. Nonetheless, Harry had told him to wait for the results.

The second to last one was a second-year who look (and acted) likey they’ve never touched a broom in their life. Whether it be for cleaning or Magical Purpose, Harry doesn’t know. Least to say that Harry wasn’t surprised that the kid only managed to block one ball.

Ron went last, who successfully blocked four out the five quaffles sent his way. After his round was over, Ron collapsed into one of the benches near the back. After Harry looks between Ron and the fourth year, Harry says, “can you two redo yours?”

Ron groans while the fourth year says, “Yeah, sure.”

Ron goes first, and much to everyone’s surprise, he manages to block every quaffle with shaking limbs. Harry spots twin looks of astonishment on Ginny and Hermione and Harry let out a small chuckle. In the end, Ron got the role of being the Gryffindor Keeper.

Next are the beaters, which was only four. Two Hogwarts students and two transfer students. The Hogwarts girl was _okay_ but Harry wouldn’t say that they were great. The transfer students - Jason and Reyna - were good though.

Harry had to hold in his laughter when he saw the look on Dean’s face as a buldger swings towards him. Dean had to take a sharp dive to avoid the giant ball. Harry glanced at the person who sent the buldger towards Dean, who happens to be Reyna. The girl doesn't seem to notice how accurate she was with throwing the ball. Jason, on the other hand, was swift with good control over the bludger. If Harry didn’t know any better, he’d think Jason was flying by himself.

After going through the list twice over, Harry rounded all the members upon the field. Harry puts himself in front of the group, his hand still on his broom.

“I’m seeker,” Harry says, “Ginny, Dean, and Demelza are the chasers.” At this, the three grin. Harry looks across the field, trying to see the reaction on people's faces. He spots looks of disappointment and relief from some of the players.

“Ron is the Keeper and Jason and Reyna are the beaters,” Harry says. “For subs now. Fourth Year kid—Aiden—can be the back-up Keeper. Ginny will be my back-up Seeker. Jason will be the back-up chaser and Olivia can be the back-up beater,” Harry says.

He leaves no room for argument.

“I booked a practice for next week, same time,” Harry calls after the disappearing crowd. “I think that went well,” Ron says, coming to stand beside Harry.

* * *

As everyone heads towards the locker room, Harry’s surprised to see a figure waiting for them. Headmistress McGonagall stands by the entrance, another Gryffindor student standing beside her. The young witch is busy gawking at the older Gryffindor student, her eyes wide. The Headmistress doesn't seem to notice the girl's awe.

The students stop short when they notice the Headmistress standing there.

Dread grows in Harry’s stomach as Hermione steps forward. "What’s wrong Headmistress McGonagall?” Hermione inquires, her eyes glancing towards the girl by her side.

"Do you see Mr. Hales here, Nadia?" The Headmistress inquires, turning towards the girl. The girl jumps at the attention and says, "no... no." Then, the girl frowns, "he said he would be trying out too..."

Headmistress McGonagall’s face hardens and Harry’s stomach drops. The Headmistress turns towards Harry and his friends. "To answer your question, Ms. Granger, it seems to me that a Gryffindor student has gone missing."

Her announcement leaves the students stunned. Then, as everyone gets over their shock, chaos erupts.

* * *

The Headmistress escorts the Gryffindors back to the common room and not a sound was made. Harry's glance over the students, watching their eyes grow more curious. Harry suspects everyone is too afraid of the Headmistress shushing them to even try to speak.

When they enter the room, Harry’s eyes catch onto the other Gryffindors. It seems like the young girl, Nadia, seemed to run ahead to alert everyone.

The younger students look around, their eyes are curious. Some of the older students look annoyed at the disturbance and the others look confused. Some look they just got out of bed.

“What’s going on?” One person calls out, making everyone starting to murmur to one another.

Headmistress McGonagall waits, allowing people to whisper to one another. Minutes pass and people start filing into the Gryffindor common room. When everyone settles down, the Headmistress starts to explain.

“A student from Gryffindor has gone missing,” Headmistress McGonagall explains. Everyone looks at her, their gaze questioning. After seven years of mysterious things happening at Hogwarts, no one's surprised anymore. This confuses the younger kids, who look at one another with concern.

“Everyone must remain in the common room for the rest of the day, in case someone kidnapped the student. It’s unlikely, but not impossible,” the Headmistress says. “What about the missing student?” One of the Prefects asks.

“The Prefects and Head students will go a hunt to try to find the student. The Prefects will choose someone to go with,” the Headmistress says. Harry spies Percy and Jason glancing at one another and Harry’s brows furrowed.

“Prefects, choose your partner - it _cannot_ be another Prefect,” the Headmistress says. Harry immediately looks at Ron, who meets his gaze within an instant. Both of them nod their heads at one another and Ron grins.

As Harry and Ron go to meet up, he spots Percy and Jason walking towards the Headmistress. Harry watches the two of them begin a short conversation with her. Harry snaps back to attention when Ron asks, “if it _is_ a death eater, how would they get inside the building?”

Harry shakes his head and said, “I dunno.” Ron glances at him and says, “there _could_ be death eaters in the building.”

“Like Professor Brunner. He could have snuck up on him and wheeled the student out when no one was looking,” Harry says sarcastically. Ron throws Harry a look and says, “well, it might be a student undercover.”

As Harry opens his mouth to respond, but he hears Headmistress McGonagall call his name. Both boys look to their right, where the Headmistress is waiting for them. “Ron, Harry, Jason and Percy join you on your search to find the missing student,” the Headmistress says.

Ron opens his mouth to object when he notices the look the Headmistress gives him. “Okay, sure,” Ron says instead. Jason and Percy grin, oblivious to Ron’s discomfort, and go and join the two boys. “The more the merrier,” Ron grumbles.

“You have forty minutes to find the student,” the Headmistress says over the chatter. With this, the Prefects are left to go explore the building.

* * *

“He could have got lost in one of the hallways,” Ron says. “Didn’t she say that the kid was in his fourth year?” Harry inquires, glancing down the staircase. “The castle is still pretty big,” Harry hears Percy’s reply.

Ron leans in closer to Harry to whisper to him. " How do you think they convinced Headmistress McGonagall to join us?”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Harry says instead of replying.

Ron only shakes his head.

Then, Ron says, “do you think one of the ghosts will know where the kid went to?”

“Ghost?” Percy inquires behind them. “You guys haven’t seen one yet?” Harry questions, looking behind him. They’re walking down the stairs now, so Harry has to hold onto the railing so he doesn’t miss a step.

“No, I suppose that counts as lucky?” Percy asks, his eyes travelling from Ron to Harry. “I guess we can always find a ghost -”

“Someone called?”

Everyone jumps and Harry stumbles into Ron. “Who said that?” One of the transfers says.

“There,” Ron says, pointing towards one of the platforms between the stairs. “Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry says when he saw the ghost appear in front of him. “Nearly Headless?” He hears Jason ask.

Harry watches the ghost wince at the name and says, “It’s actually _Sir Nicholas de—_ ”

“Then why do people call you Nearly Headless Nick for?”

Harry puts his hands on his face - _look at what he started_.

He hears the ghost sigh. A minute later, he hears two people gasp behind him. “Okay, wow. Sorry for asking,” Percy says. “Yes, yes. I hear people in need of help and I am here to call! Partially because I’m sick of listening to the Blood Baron arguing about everything -”

“Ghost can talk with other ghosts?’

“Why _wouldn’t_ —“

“Can we get to the point?” Jason says, glancing at Percy.

“Nearly Headless Nick, did you see anything suspicious? Like a fourth year going missing or anything?”

The ghost seems to think for a minute and shakes his head. “Ah, sort of. A child walked by no more than an hour ago. He looked asleep as he walked by. He went outside straight away. You know, I keep telling students to always have a good night’s sleep, you never know what will happen. I’ve seen too many kids fall asleep in back hallways. I always _do_ love a good spook though. You know there should be classes for—”

“Thanks, Nick,” Harry says, “we’ve got to be going now.”

“Very well,” Nearly Headless Nick says, waving at them as the four boys ran away.

“Do think he was in a trance or something?” One of the transfer inquires as they race down the stairs. “At least it rules out any Death Eater in the school,” Harry says.

“It doesn’t explain where the kid went though,” Ron says. The four boys make it to the bottom floor and they race towards the outside. Some other students heading back to their common rooms give them a look as they rush past.

It takes a minute for Harry to come up with an idea of where the kid might be. “The outside of Hogwarts is big,” Ron says, “it’ll be impossible to search the whole place.”

“Think of somewhere no one can go - or is against the rules to go to,” Jason says. “Back at Ca—Ilvermorney, people would go and hide there,” he adds a second later. Harry doesn’t notice the slip-up.

They run outside, the air colder then it was some minutes ago. “Bloody hell,” Ron mutters. “What?” Harry questions, turning to his friend. “The forbidden forest,” Ron says, his gaze trained towards the tree.

“Wouldn’t someone spot him heading towards the forest though?” Harry questions.

“Unless everyone had better things to watch, like the Gryffindor tryouts,” Ron says. Ron's eyes settle on the forest, a worried glance settling on his face. “Well then,” Percy says, “how forbidden can the forest be?”

Ron and Harry share a look.

“You’d be surprised.”

  
  



	10. Chapter 9 - Jason isn't knocked out with a brick in this one (Part I)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. Can you guess what happens from the title? 
> 
> I parted these two because I felt like its the same chapter, but different things happen? It goes to a different POV halfway through the chapter
> 
> (Also because it would 8000 words if I didn't Part them)
> 
> I also rewrote the description for the book.
> 
> As a warning, there are some mentions of blood and injuries. It's not gory, but I'm going to add it here.

The sky above the four boys was getting suspiciously darker. “I didn’t know anything about it getting darker,” Ron comments, his eyes glancing up at the sky. Jason follows the redhead’s gaze, his eyes trying to spot the sky through the trees.

“Yeah, it came out of nowhere,” Harry agrees. Jason wonders if Zeus finally figured out that there's a whole other society hiding from him. Jason wouldn't want to be anywhere near the god when he figured it out.

He wouldn’t act surprised if Zeus took out his anger without asking any questions first. Jason's sure Hecate would go into a meltdown.

Jason glances back to the ground, his eyes moving over the terrain.

Different types of trees surround him, all being different shades of green. At the bottom of the tree, the roots, with the motivation of magic, have erupted from the ground. They spring up and wrap around the trees and grass.

He glances at the other three boys walking with him. Ron's already trying to avoid the roots, his eyes glued to the ground, taking his time to step over them. In conclusion, it'll be a miracle if they didn't trip and fall over a root coming from the ground.

Thanks to the many branches with leaves on them, Jason isn't able to past the trees in front of them. Unless they found a path, of course. Which Jason finds unlikely.

Jason’s attention strays away from the trees and onto the other demigod with him.

Percy’s mouth has thinned out. A second later, his brows furrow. The son of Poseidon glances at the sky. Its as if he's worried that Zeus is about to release ten dozen bolts of lightning onto Hogwarts.

Jason is about to mention something to Percy, already opening his mouth, when a sound echoes in front of him. Jason snaps his head towards the noise, his body tensing.

Another sound - something like a branch cracking - makes everyone look up. The four boys glance at one another before narrowing in onto the forest in front of them.

A breeze of cold air flows past Jason, making the hairs on his arms stand.

He frowns.

Then, something small erupts from the bushes.

Everyone springs back in surprise while Jason raises his wand. A second later, the surprise passes, leaving them to stare at the animal in front of them.

He recognizes it - a rabbit.

The rabbit's gaze settles on the four of them, its ears twitching. A minute later, it sprints off into a pile of bushes.

Someone behind Jason lets out an audible sigh.

“We’re not going to make it if we get scared by _that,”_ Percy says.

“Well,” Ron says, “we shouldn’t be standing here either! We'll get attacked by something because they think we aren't paying attention.” The redhead glances across the trees, his gaze suspicious.

“What types of animals are even here?” Jason wonders aloud, bringing attention to him.

“Giant spiders,” Harry supplies, making Ron cringe.

“There are some centaurs out here too…” Harry trails off. “We haven’t been out here much to see much of anything else.”

“Well, it looks like today is the day for changing that,” Percy says, trying for a laugh. No one responds to him, instead they all look concerned.

“This is the last chance for us to go back,” Jason warns as if the others didn’t notice. It would be terrible if someone decides that going into the forest is a bad idea when they're 5 miles in already.

It would set them back for finding the missing kid.

* * *

When Jason glances back at the other, none of them looked like they wanted to leave. Jason suspects that it's the 'Gryffindor courage' in them.

“I’m staying,” Harry says. Ron follows a second later, saying, "me too."

“I guess it’s up to us now to find him,” Jason says.

“I would laugh if it turns out if he _wasn’t_ in the forbidden forest and we decided to explore it for no reason,” Percy says.

“Don’t bring the thought up again,” Ron grumbles. “I’d rather _not_ be here,” he says.

With this, they continue into the forest, occasionally tripping over roots. One time, Jason manages to slap Percy in the face with a tree branch because he didn’t know Percy was behind him. The blond only offered the son of Poseidon a sheepish look before continuing. Once or twice, the echo of nearby galloping makes Ron and Harry look up. Their faces would show concern. All the while Jason thought, _are there centaurs here? Cool._

The noise would fade as soon as it came and then the tension would ease out of everyone.

“We’ve been, uh, travelling for a while,” Percy says after some minutes. Jason peers behind him, going from Percy’s wary expression to the forest behind them. “Have we found any tracks yet?” Ron inquires, his voice growing nervous.

It would _certainly_ be a surprise if they got lost in the forest.

“There,” Harry says, making everyone turn. Harry has his wand pointed towards a bush, where a pair of footprints sink into the dirt and mud.

“That’s convenient,” Ron mutters, his eyes trailing over the prints.

With a look behind him, Jason creeps towards the bush. His gaze drops onto the uplifted dirt and grass around it. Some pieces of dirt are still falling off the tiny tower the footprint created.

_New._

Speaking his thoughts, Jason says, “it looks new - we're catching up to him now.”

Jason takes a step forward, his hands grabbing onto the bush to pull it away from him. As he steps forward, the bush gives away to new sets of trails. Jason’s eyes follow the one with footprints, ignoring the ones that branch out.

The footprints disappear behind two trees that intertwine a couple of feet away.

The blond moves the bush away, allowing Harry - who's behind him - to move forward without getting a face full of leaves. He listens to Harry stumbling forward, trying to keep the bush out of his way.

Jason glances behind him once, trying to signal them to be _quiet_ . Harry raises his brows at him, his expression saying, ' _what?_ '

Sighing, Jason glances in front of him.

The footprints lead into two trees, which intertwine at the top. Their trunks are six feet away from one another, with their branches spanning out to meet each other. Incidentally, the leaves hide whatever is behind the two trees.

Behind Jason, he hears Percy say, “why does it feel like we’re about to head into another realm?”

“Maybe we are,” Harry jokes.

Jason ignores the boys behind him and he heads for the tree, drawing his wand closer to him. If they’re heading to where the cultists are, he needs to have some sort of weapon with him. Too bad he doesn’t have his sword with him, he would feel more comforted.

As he starts pulling away from the branches, a _caw_ fills the air. Jason freezes, and so do the boys behind him. A second later, he hears Ron open his mouth to say, “why are we -”

Two more _caws._

Then, five.

Soon, the only sound in the forest is the increasing calls of various birds. Jason cups his ears, trying to rid himself of the noise.

“What type of bird is that?” Harry questions, his voice having to be loud over the calls of the birds. _I have no idea._

The birds don’t deter Jason though.

He continues forward, digging his way through the branches. The layers of branches were surprisingly.... _thick_.

Ignoring the thought about why it's so thick, he brings his hand out to touch the last branch. As he pulls it out of the way, something black comes into view. It takes a minute for Jason to process what’s happening - but it’s too late.

A sudden burst of pain courses through the son of Jupiter's face and he stumbles backwards. His back hits someone, but Jason is too busy trying to cover his nose. 

“What? -” He hears Ron’s voice, but it’s far away. Jason closes his eyes for a minute, focusing in on the wetness trickling out of his nose. It takes a moment for Jason to realize what it was. _Blood._

Jason sucks in a breath and opens his eyes and looks around, trying to find his companions. His gaze catches onto what attacked him. _A giant bird_ \- which is circling above them.

The two of them make eye contact and Jason swears it tilts it's head to the side to let out a laugh. A second later, the bird jets up into the sky.

A ruffling from bush makes Jason turn his head away from the escaping bird.

Behind him, Harry and Ron instinctively race to raise their wands onto the bush, Ron even mouthing a spell. Jason can’t help but admire how fast their reflex skills are. A second later, a flash of silver and black explodes from the bushes around them.

Jason stumbles away from the eruption of colours. He forces himself not to fall over from the sudden amount of birds.

Somewhere behind him, Ron lets out a curse, “ _bloody hell!”_

Jason is momentarily distracted, his head turned up to look at the swearing wizard. It would be a mistake, Jason finds out not even a second later.

A dagger of pain shoots through Jason’s foot, making him sag to the ground.

_Damn birds._

Glancing up to the sky, the dark and stormy sky greets him behind the trees. He'll worry about what that means later. He has to fight off some birds at the moment. With an aching foot and a broken nose with blood dripping from it, Jason stumbles to his feet. Though it's a bit harder to do when a sharp pain jolts through him whenever he stands on his injured foot.

He pats himself down, noticing a feather stuck above his ankle. Reaching down, he wraps his fingers around it and tugs the feather out. What type of bird can do this?

When he looks up, he has to duck to avoid being dive-bombed by a bird. Once the threat is gone, Jason takes a good look around, only to find that the forest has been overtaken by birds. Peering at the ground, the blond spots his wand laying a couple of feet away, untouched.

He starts towards it, ignoring the flapping wings to the right side of his ear. He hears a whistling sound to his left and he turns his head to the side to see a feather racing towards him.

The son of Jupiter dives for his wand. A second later, the feather races over his head, grazing his hair.

Once Jason feels his fingers wrap around the wood of his wand, he gets up and starts running away from the birds. Jason takes the chance to look behind him and as he does so, the hairs on his neck start to stand up. He remembers the feeling, which is like a strong memory at the edge of his mind.

_A storm is coming._

A flash of red erupts in his peripheral vision, and the sounds of birds screeching fill the air. Jason winces at the sound and looks towards the light. His vision is completely taken over by birds and flashes of light. Gritting his teeth, he glances around, trying to find an opening with no birds to escape to. He's unable to find any.

Willing to risk it all, Jason thrust his hand forward, trying to summon the wind to push the birds away.

Surprise echoes through his mind when nothing happens. Not even a hum or a slight change of breeze in the air.

He recoils from the idea of his power _not_ working. What would have -

Something sharp - like a beak - pinches the small of his back and Jason lets out a yelp. Ignoring the blooming pain for the minute, he spins around. At the same time, he takes in the smell around him. _Something is burning - like lightning._

Jason takes in a breath, three parts of his body aching, and glances at the bird that attacked him. This one has something against him, he can tell by the way it's looking at him. He casts a stunning spell on the bird, making it fall to the ground with a satisfying thump. Glad that he's dealt with _that_ bird, he turns back around.

He comes face to face with a set of new birds.

He backs away from them, his mind racing to think of a spell that might get rid of these birds. His brain flips through the charms he learned in the short amount of time he’d gotten.

After a minute, Jason settles for a spell that contains an element he's used to working with. Twirling his wand, Jason says, “ _Ventus.”_ A jet of spiralling wind bursts from his wand and it makes Jason trip over himself at the sudden burst of power.

In front of him, the birds let out ear-splitting screeches as they’re sent flying away. Satisfied that the birds won’t attack him again, he turns his attention towards his three (new) friends. Scanning the area, he evaluates the situation with the two wizards. To his right, Harry’s casting a protection spell, which forms a giant wall.

The birds didn't seem to realize what Harry did before it's too late. The bird's race towards the wall like comets, which causes the birds to go sprawling into the forest. Both Ron and Percy are behind the wall, casting spells onto birds who manage to avoid the magical wall.

Jason is on the other side of the wall, leaving him with the birds.

Whispering a curse, Jason turns his attention towards the birds. A couple of them seem to realize that he’s the only one they could get to without harming themselves. In a unit, the birds dart towards him, making Jason flick his wand up and cast another stunning spell.

" _Stupefy_!"

Six birds collapse to the ground in heap, none of them making a sound. Jason hesitates for a minute and his eyes meet the other birds who are squawking at him. Some get the hint and they move away from him.

He peers around at the birds before walking towards the still birds on the floor. Peering down, Jason watches the birds twitching, trying to move.

Still alive.

_Magic works on these creatures (which are from Greek myths). Of course magic works on them, Hecate created their magic..._

With a sigh, Jason looks around. The throbbing in his nose begins again with renewal force after the adrenaline wears off. Jason brings his fingers up to feel his nose, wincing at the crookedness of his nose. _I'm sure the nurse in the infirmary will be able to heal it._

The throbbing in his ankle seems to disappear with the feather gone, but the pain in his back remains.

A clap of thunder startles Jason out his thoughts. _He usually notices when there’s a lightning storm. What’s happening? Is this magic stopping my magic from working? The smell of lightning and the dark sky should have been a dead giveaway._

Jason turns his attention back to Harry, Ron, and Percy. The birds, which seem to be unaware of Jason, are still slamming into Harry’s magical wall. The protection spell is starting to crack and Harry’s looking more and more worried with every dent.

To stop these birds, he needs to know _what_ these birds are.

Jason starts shifting through his memories, trying to recall what the birds are. He doesn’t know if he’s faced these things on his quests or if he’s read them in books. It hits him a second later as lightning strikes above them, resulting in a clap of thunder. It shocks the three other boys into looking up, Percy looking rather concerned.

Jason ignores the sound for the moment.

_Stymphalian birds._ If he remembers correctly , they’re from Heracles’s sixth labour. He doesn’t know much about them. Worse, he can’t remember what the bird’s weaknesses are - which is _convenient._

What he _did_ know is that these birds can shoot their feathers like arrows. As a side fact, they have beaks that can tear through flesh. At the mention of _beaks,_ his back starts throbbing with new determination.

With a groan, Jason looks up at the birds. Most are unaware of the extra demigod behind them, too focused on their target in front of them. He starts walking towards them, raising his wand. His feet are soft against the ground as he tries his best to step over fallen birds and twigs without making a sound.

When he reaches the first bird, he notices how unfair a fight this is. They can only die by certain things, which Jason is unaware of still. At least he knows that his sword would have done _some_ damage.

The thought of having his sword with him starts growing more appealing. The next lesson in DADA is learning how to transform his wand into a weapon, much to the demigod’s excitement. It would be a nice easier task if he can kill these monsters outright instead of using magic. _He doesn't even know if the magic will work!_

He’s brought out of his thoughts when the wall collapses abruptly. It goes out with a loud ‘ _pop.’_

A moment later, the shockwave comes. It sends everyone and everything backwards. It makes Jason's feet lift off the ground - and make him airborne. As this happens, he watches the closest birds turn into vapour within an instant.

Around him, the roots explode from the ground, making the dirt erupt and fly around in every direction. The trees follow a second later, some falling to the ground while others start to lose their branches. 

He's able to feel the hot air whirl around him, his face grows hot, and soon his skin is scorching hot.

He isn’t able to see much of anything else because he’s too busy smashing through trees and other things. Jason’s stomach lurches as he hits the ground with a thud. His whole body skids and flips through the dirt and grass, uplifting the soil.

He stops rolling when his back slams against a fallen log.

Blinding Pain courses through him, lighting his nervous system on fire as his skin burns. The pain follows him into unconsciousness, his vision giving out a second later.

* * *

His mouth has a metallic taste to it. It's the first thing the son of Jupiter notices. Perhaps he’s knocked a tooth out during the initial explosion, making blood spill out.

The second thing he notices is the cool droplets of rain pelting his face. It soaks his hair, washing his face of its scorch marks. It's refreshing against the heat, at least. His back is in pain, but he can deal with that later. At the moment, he needs to open his eyes and try to look around. 

His vision clouds when he peeks open his eyes. He can see the blurry colour of the raining sky above him. He can't make out much of anything else.

With ringing ears, Jason tries to turn his head to the side. He's unable to do that. Letting out a breath, making his lungs ignite with heat, Jason pushes himself onto his side. It's embarrassing to how much of a struggle this is.

As soon as he moves, his body cries out in protest as pain slams into him. A pained wheeze escapes Jason’s body without permission. His body - his skin - is lit with fire. He stills at the pain and can’t help but lean into it. A second later, it starts ebbing away, satisfied with his lack of movement.

With a sharp intake of breath, Jason looks up.

Cold rain splashes across his face, making him wince. His body only responds with a jolt of pain in his back.

The rain starts cooling his face until it’s enough to make Jason feel _okay._ A couple of seconds later, a crack of lightning enters the sky. Jason narrows his eyes to it, watching the patterns it creates. He lays like this, watching the lightning go by, listening to the ringing in his ears disappear into a dull hum. A better sound enters his mind; the dripping sounds of rain dropping from the leaves above him.

Another second later, his vision clears and his pain reduces into a dull ache. His back and the front of his chest are still tingling with pain but he doesn't think it'll go away.

He allows the air to drift around him, he allows the rain to drop onto his face.

On his side, Jason’s gaze narrows at the blurry vision of the grass. He’s certain that a _protection_ spell wouldn’t cause _this_ much damage. At least, he didn’t think so.

With a groan, Jason rubs his eyes.

When he looks around once more, he sees what mess the spell created. Piles of evaporated dust line the ground where birds once lay. Trees and bushes alike or either on the ground or are leaning away from the mini-explosion. Roots and such make the place look like a jungle gym with a couple of dozen layers to climb.

Jason looks down at what _he_ created.

In front of him is dug up the grass with skid marks and turned over dirt. Now to think of it, Jason’s back is slick with something - _dirt._ Jason lets out a strangled breath, his lungs heaving in his chest.

He hasn’t felt this weak in ages - why?

He needs to get up. He doesn't know if the birds will return or not. He doesn't want to be a free meal when that happens. With that in mind, Jason looks around once more - to try and find something to grapple onto. There's a tree behind him, he can feel it. Looking behind him, a throb of pain echoes through his back. He looks behind him and a throb of pain follows a second after. With a wince, Jason’s grab ahold of the tree.

Above him, the rain starts to pelt down faster. Sucking in a breath, Jason looks up. Too many things are wrong at the moment. Perhaps it’s because it’s ‘the forbidden forest’ or its because of some ‘unforeseen’ reason.

One, there was no sign of rain nor a storm. Two, Jason can’t _feel_ the storm, nor can he try to control it. Three, _he’s way weaker then he usually is._

Jason hugs the tree in front of him, taking in the earthly scent mixed in with the rain. With another laborious breath, Jason drags himself up against the tree. It’s harder and more painful then he expected - maybe he _did_ damage his back.

Glancing around him, the son of Jupiter notices that he didn’t see his companions with him. Letting go of the tree he's holding, Jason staggers backwards. He's legs are wobbling as if it's a struggle to hold his whole body weight upright.

His vision blurs for a minute as he wheels his arms around him, trying to study himself. He digs his heels into the ground and levels his arms out. With a shaky breath, he looks around the forest. His vision returns a second later and it takes a minute for Jason to realize that the birds are _gone._

With a questioning glance around the small clearing they created, he counts the piles of dust. Earlier, there had been at least fifty piles, he only sees ten now. Where’d the others go? Was this their intention? Are the birds smarter then he thought? He wouldn't be surprised.

Taking in a fresh breath, Jason reaches for his wand, which is in his pocket by luck alone. Bringing it out, a feeling of false comfort blankets him. _As if a wand can protect you._

Ignoring the thought, Jason stumbles forward - to where Harry, Ron, and Percy would be. He needs to make sure they're okay. When the son of Jupiter looks up, his eyes take in the roots covering the ground, and the ones spiking up in the sky.

With another heavy breath, Jason staggers towards the tree roots. Glancing at them, he's already dreading his decision.

His limbs feel like jello but he manages to make it to the nearest tree root without collapsing. He grabs it, and his fingers wrap around it like a vice. _There has to be a spell to heal me._

_The stamina charm._ What’s the incantation again? Gods… This would be much easier if he remembered things.

He takes another step, pulling himself over the next root. This goes by for another two minutes until he reaches the other side of the roots. His eyes land on the ground, spying the charred marks in the grass. That must be where the protection wall was when it exploded…

He looks up, his eyes tracing the edge of the forest. This side of the protection spell seems to be less destroyed. The trees are still tilted to the side, with fog rolling in, which is odd. In all, it gives off an eerie feeling that Jason can't explain.

A breeze flows by Jason, making his cloak float. Jason inhales the air, taking in the smell of burnt toast. He crinkles his nose and starts coughing, his lungs burning again. With a burning throat, he looks up at the sky and considers the falling rain. He has no idea where the rain is coming from, but he's going to tempt it.

A couple of minutes later, he looks around, trying to spy the three other boys. There doesn’t seem to be anyone in sight. There aren’t specks of ashes on the ground, which Jason finds refreshing and fortunate. It would be a shame to explain to Annabeth and the Headmistress what happened to the other boys.

Jason heads towards the treeline, to where the bushes part. He suspects that one of them may have gone flying through here...

He hears something kick the dirt behind him. Jason spins around and lets out a gasp when a sharp pain explodes in his lower back. He stumbles back, his heels digging into the dirt behind him.

After his body stops wobbling, Jason glances at where the noise came from. When he looked up, a bright light explodes into his vision. Confusion enters his mind for a brief and fleeting moment. It doesn't last long because he's thrown into the ground, his back hitting one of the roots in the ground.

Jason groans and tries to get up, his arms straining. He's unable to move - _how_? There's a pressure on his chest that he can't see - or feel, making him unable to get up. After a minute, Jason glances around, trying to figure out what happened. He’s unable to move, somehow. Perhaps it’s a spell. Whatever it is, Jason’s in trouble.

With another attempt to move to see who cast the spell, he lets out a wheeze as his lungs cave in for a mere second. In front of him, a cloaked figure is walking towards him, their hood draped over their head, hiding their face.

They have their wand raised. Jason didn’t think it would matter - he’s unable to move (and escape) anyway.

The cloaked figure makes his way towards Jason, taking his dearest time. Moments later, the hooded figure is standing over him. Their invisible face stares down at Jason, making the demigod uncomfortable.

The cloaked figure raises his wand - towards Jason's head. A second later, a bright light explodes from the end and everything goes black for Jason.

* * *

Back in Hogwarts, at the top of the divination tower, two seers sit together, talking to one another.

Rachel taps her quill against her desk, the sound echoing through the empty classroom. The only other sound in the room is the rain tapping against the glass beside her, coming down hard.

An unfamiliar sense pools in her stomach, making her look up. Glancing at the window, she narrows her eyes, trying to see through the rain. She's cut off when Professor Trelawney erupts from her office. Rachel jolts up in her desk, watching Trelawney walking out with a handful of books in her hands.

Rachel's eyes widen at the number of books. “That’s all the books?” Rachel inquiries, her voice sarcastic. The other seer didn't seem to realize it's sarcasm. The Professor glances at her with unblinking eyes and says, “oh, I’m sure there’s more - “

“It’s fine,” Rachel, standing up. She reaches out with her hands, ready to take the books the Professor had given her. The Professor moves the books away from her and Rachel peers up at her. “You know,” the Professor says, “sometimes we’re not _meant_ to see the future.”

Rachel raises her brows at the Professor, her gaze following her move around. Trelawney takes her time walking towards Rachel, an airy look on her face. Its as if the Professor isn’t _here_ but somewhere’s else, unaware of the problems surrounding here.

The Professor hands her the books, and an unsettling amount of weight is set onto Rachel. For such little books, it feels likes she’s carrying elephants. Grunting, Rachel stumbles around, trying to right herself.

After a minute, she lets out a sigh.

“Thank you, Professor Trelawney. I should be heading off now,” Rachel says, her voice coming out in a huff. “Isn’t there a lockdown? A person has gone missing…” The professor trails off, her gaze fixated onto the window. Rachel raises her brows at the Professor, wondering why she stopped talking. 

Then, something sharp spiked through her body. Rachel lets out a gasp, making her drop her books. The Professor jumps and turns to her, frowning, “what’s wrong dear - “

The world goes temporarily black for her. She is unable to sense anything, aside from _feeling_ the spirit of Delphi walking towards her. The spirit enters her mind, taking over her five senses. Like she's done many times before, Rachel gives up her body to the spirit. She allows her body to slacken, allows for her to lose control.

A minute later, the oracle - the spirit - has taken over her.

‘ _Wizards and Demigods Meet,_

_To serve and protect,_

_To fight the god that has never been beat,_

_Beware, its never the one you suspect,_

_For it wears the face of the one you greet,_

_For your friends, you shouldn't neglect -"_

Something slams into her mind, making Rachel collapse to the floor. A second later, her connection to the oracle breaks. _What_ _just_ _happened?_

With a shaking body, Rachel looks up at the Professor. _Oh no,_ Rachel thinks, _she knows about us. It mentioned demigods and gods -_

“That was a long prophecy,” the Professor says after a second, sounding excited. “What - ?” her voice comes out cracked, making her wince. She coughs into her fist and says, “what?”

“I forget what it’s called when a prophecy is longer than normal,” the Professor continues.

Rachel’s confused.

“Wha-”

The professor cast a levitating charm, making the books float onto a table. “I still suggest reading the books I gave you. I have a feeling the prophecy isn’t over yet. We should look into - “

“Professor Trelawney,” Rachel interrupts, “how are you not -”

The Professor turns to her and Rachel nearly jumps out of her skin. “Here, here. Have the books and go back to your common room. If I Look - “ her words become incoherent as she walks away.

Rachel watches her disappear into her office with wide eyes. After a couple of minutes in silence, Rachel gets to her feet, brushing herself off. She’ll worry about the Professor later - perhaps she was too excited about the prophecy to take in the words.

Rachel glances out the window, noticing how bad it’s gotten outside. She can't look out the window without squinting - there's too much rain.

The thing she should be worrying about is, _what triggered the spirit of Delphi? It only seems to be working when something important happens._

Shaking her head, she dismisses the idea.

Grabbing the books on the table, Rachel walks out of the divination classroom.

_I don’t want to know what happened._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With my first round of editing, I reached 3700 words, now I have 5454 words. 
> 
> I spent a good five minutes looking through words that rhymed with 'suspect' and 'beat.'
> 
> This is really where it parts with my first version of the story.
> 
> Next chapter is called 'Percy's malfunctioning at the moment, come back later'


	11. Chapter 10 - Percy's malfunctioning at the moment, come back later (Part II)

**_Twenty minutes Earlier_ **

_ He’s brought out of his thoughts when the wall collapses  _ _ abruptly _ _. It goes out with a loud ‘ pop.’ _

_ A moment later, the shockwave comes. It sends everyone and everything backwards. It makes Jason's feet lift off the ground - and make him airborne. As this happens, he watches the closest birds turn into vapour within an instant. _

* * *

Luck seems to be Percy’s middle name.

Glancing at the dark sky above, Percy’s body aches all over, his mind frizzled out. His ears are ringing but Percy's unaware of it, too busy staring at the trees above him.

Groaning, Percy tilts his head to the side, trying to avoid getting jabbed in the eye by rain. At the back of his mind, he hears birds flying around him. He should worry about the birds pecking him to death… but he’s too busy laying in mud, surrounded by bushes and weeds.

He hears them draw closer.

He hears one of the wizards…  _ Ron, _ he thinks, yelp.

He hears a fight.

He lays there for another minute, drowning in the rain when his brain starts functioning. 

_ Wait. _

Percy jolts up in his custom made bed on the forest floor. His body screams in protest but Percy ignores it.

Getting to his feet, he starts looking around. Below him, his legs threatened to give out. Digging his heels into the ground, Percy reaches in his pocket for riptide.  _ Wait a minute, I can’t use that weapon to defeat the birds. _

_ Stymphalian birds. _

With a groan, Percy fishes through his other pocket, taking out his wand. Even if it isn’t his weapon -  _ wand _ \- of choice, he doesn’t want to be using his sword with Ron and Harry nearby.

He doubts Harry and Ron can see him through the thick rain.

Percy steps into the  newly made clearing.

Around him, he sees a circle of Stymphalian birds a couple of feet away -  barely visible through the rain. Upon closer inspection, the birds are trying to attack Harry and Ron. Behind the birds, a wall of roots and logs  are toppled upon one another, creating a wall between him and Jason. Wherever he may be.

Percy’s head snaps back to the two wizards when he hears one of them yelp in pain. Turning his head, he focuses his gaze on Ron and Harry, realizes that the two of them are pretty scratched up. Their cheeks are bleeding, most likely from the birds attacking them with their beaks. The rest is due to the explosion.

_ How did they recover faster than me? _

He’s brought out of his thoughts when a feather shoots into Ron’s leg. The redhead flinches back and stumbles into Harry. Harry, unprepared for the sudden weight, staggers to the floor, Ron close behind.

Percy walks forward against his better judgement.

_ Aren’t these birds afraid of fire? _

He doesn’t get time to search his memory though because the birds are flying towards the wizards on the ground. In a (slight) panic, Percy shouts, “ _ Incendio!”  _ He hopes its the right spell - he watched Hermione cast it to summon fire.

As the birds touch Ron, they erupt into flames. Ron jumps at the sudden light and crawls backwards, his eyes wide. A moment later, Harry’s on his feet, fixing his glasses. Ron gets up a moment later.

A flash of claws brings Percy out his thoughts, making him flinch away from the birds above him. His eyes snap to the bird above him, whose dark eyes pin to Percy. It takes a moment for Percy to realize what the bird is about to do (his brain in lagging, give him a minute). When he does, Percy lurches back over a root and slams into a tree behind him.

Why is he so disoriented?

He dodges again, moving to the side when the bird swoops down for him again. Turning his attention away from the bird for a brief second, he heads towards the wizards. The wizards in question are busy defending themselves against the birds. Harry glances at Percy when he approaches, making Harry's eyes widen for a brief second.

“Duck,” Harry shouts, raising his wand towards him.

For a minute, confusion enters Percy’s brain.  _ Wait - why is he attacking me?  _ A second later, his brain makes the connection and goes ' _ oh _ '. Percy  not-so-gracefully stumbles to the ground, his body hits the ground with a loud  _ thud.  _ A moment later _ ,  _ a flash of light shoots above him, hitting the bird behind him. The bird lets out a cry of pain before collapsing to the floor.

The hairs on the back of his neck stand up as Percy looks up, giving Harry a thankful nod. As Percy gets to his feet, the rain becomes denser. The only light comes from the lightning dancing across the sky. It's a rare occurrence.

"The Incendio charm is the only spell that seems to work," Harry tells Percy, who glances at the bird behind him. The bird in question gets to its feet before dashing into the sky again to join his friends.

" I feel like we're cursed," Percy grumbles, making Harry snort.

The two of them jump when they hear Ron cursing from behind them. Percy peers at the redhead and finds himself unable to see anything through the rain. “What’s wrong?” He hears Harry inquire as thunder booms overhead. “They’re getting up faster than expected - “ Ron’s voice is  abruptly cut-off.

Percy glances at Harry, who’s turning near-invisible due to the dark sky and the rain. Harry's expression is one of surprise and worry as he waits for Ron to speak again. A moment later, Harry's turning around and racing towards Ron. The black-haired boy disappears into the rain.

Percy furrows his brows as the wizard goes to save his friend. It makes Percy realize how wet he is - his hair stuck to his face as droplets of rain rush down his face. His clothes are stuck to him and his pockets are pooling with water.

Percy snaps his head up when he hears something cracking - like a tree branch falling from a tree. Ron’s panicked, ‘ _stupefy”_ follows a second later, making Percy spur into action.

Racing towards the noise, Percy jumps over roots and fallen logs like it's a course at a jungle gym. Every time Percy's feet land on the ground after large jumps, his legs threatened to give out on him.

Harry’s voice, sounding far away, shouts, “ _ use stunning spells. It keeps them down longer than any other spell!”  _ Percy jerks his body around, his brows raising.  _ Okay - where is this sound coming from? _ A moment ago, Ron was shouting Stupefy almost right beside him.

Percy considers shouting ‘ _ Marco’  _ in hopes of someone responding  _ ‘polo'. It would make finding everyone easier. _

The thought moves out of the question when two claws and a flashy beak come swooping towards Percy from the sky. He dodges to the side as a bird hits the ground beside him, creating a hole in the ground.

Glancing around, he realizes  just how  _ soaked  _ he is.

“This is a death trap,” Percy mutters, his voice muffled over the pounding rain. “We need to run,” Percy shouts, making his voice louder than the rain. Sure, he can make the rain  _ leave,  _ but then the wizard would be suspicious of him.

“What about Jason?” One of them - Harry - shouts. 

Surprise and guilt echo’s through Percy and he looks behind him - towards the wall of roots and logs. He plays with the idea for a minute, and his mind goes to Annabeth. What smart thing would she say?

“If we run, the birds will follow us. We don’t even know if he’s conscious,” Percy shouts back. A beat passes.

“ _ WHAT _ ?”

Wincing, Percy says, louder, “ _ If we run, the birds will follow us! We can’t stop moving.” _

A moment passes and someone curses to Percy’s left. Gritting his teeth, he looks to the wall of nature. He isn’t even sure if he can find a way across the wall - even then, their dead if Jason is unconscious on the other side. Percy hates to say it, but Jason would be dead weight.

_ Don't say it. You can't leave your friends behind. _

Yet, he can’t have Harry and Ron dead for  _ his  _ decision to save Jason.

_ Jason is a demigod. He’s been through worse. _

“Fire works on these birds,” Ron shouts from somewhere, “but it’s raining too much over here.”

_ That settles it,  _ Percy decides, he’ll lure the birds away from the rain and he’ll put them all on fire. Easy.  _ But what if they get to Jason first  _ -

“We need to start running,” Ron shouts.

“What about Jason?”

“We’ll come back once we know it’s safe,” Percy shouts back.

_ I’m sorry, Jason. _

A flash of silver - Percy jumps back as a feather whistles by him. It’s a miracle he’s able to anything through the thick rain. “We need to leave now before -  _ ow  _ \- we get pecked to death by these birds,” Ron shouts.

Percy glances back at Jason, hesitating. He should send Harry and Ron on their way so Percy can defeat the birds. Even then, he's uncertain that the birds won't follow the wizards.

_ I can’t  _ _ just _ _ leave Jason here. I can’t. He might die - _

Something sharp digs into Percy’s back, digging in deep and tearing apart his flesh. Percy lets out a loud gasp as more sparks of pain erupt through him. The first pain disappears for a minute but reappears with more strength. It burns through him, igniting his body. It's twisting around inside of his back, creating a bigger hole -

Percy collapses to the floor, resisting from writhing on the ground.  _ Oh, gods. Why does it hurt so much? _

It takes a minute to realize why.  _ It’s the small of my back. Of course, it’s going to hurt there.  _ When he hits the ground, one of the wizards behind him shouts, “ _ Percy?” _

He isn’t able to respond, his thought process a combination of  _ Ow, why does it hurt so much?  _ And _ , I need to save Jason. _

For a brief moment, everything fades away. The rain is gone and so is the thunder and lightning. The pain and the birds - everything. Even his dividing thoughts to save Jason or to not save him.

It’s peaceful.

Then, he hears Ron shout, “ _ bloody Americans.” _

A minute later, the pain begins again as two people rush beside him. For a minute, Percy's surprised that they came back for him. To his left, he hears Harry shout, “ _ incendio!”  _ The birds - Percy can’t see any - erupt into a big inferno, making the other birds screech. The rain smothers the flames within a second, making the birds charred - and  _ not _ incinerated.

A sudden tug behind him get’s Percy back to his senses. Ron’s helping him to his feet, a disgruntled look on his face. “You sure you aren’t a Hufflepuff?” Ron grumbles. “We’ll get him later,” Harry shouts over his rapid spell casting. “We need to get back-up first!”

Percy tries to protest but Ron’s tugging him along, with Harry close behind him. A minute later, Percy’s forced to run with them, his heart thudding in his chest. Somewhere behind Percy, Harry shouts the words, “ _ Impedimenta!” _

The birds behind them slow - some completely come to a stop. Some collapse to the grass. Whatever the spell did, it gave the three boys time to escape. “How’d you know it would work?” Ron shouts back.

“I didn’t,” Harry responds.

When Percy looks in front of him again, he’s thrown off course by slamming into a log. He groans as Percy's legs give out under him, making his head slam into the bark of the tree. His demigod instincts kick in a second later and he becomes  acutely aware of  _ everything.  _ Percy purses his lips, thinking, _ how come they didn’t kick in earlier? Is it because I banged my head against the tree to make my head work? _

_ "Get up, they're going to catch up,"  _ Harry says, pulling at his school uniform. Percy hisses through his teeth as he gets dragged along by the two wizards. A moment later, his feet begin to work again, and he starts running on his own.

Somewhere beside him, Ron let out a startled yelp. The son of Poseidon turns his head to the side and his gaze makes contact with a large feather sticking out of Ron’s back. He looks up, settling his gaze on Ron’s panicked and pained face.

The poor redhead is so focused on the sudden burst of pain that he doesn’t see the tree branch in front of him. Percy opens his mouth to give a warning, but he's too late. Percy winces as Ron slams into the branch, making him stumble back and hit the ground with a thud.

He hears Harry’s footsteps become heavier as both him and Percy race to Ron’s rescue. As Harry goes to lift Ron to his feet, the birds descend on the three of them. Above them, lightning explodes in the sly, lighting up the bird’s Approaching. The birds dive towards their prey (which is them), some spreading out to encompass the three of them.

At the back of his mind, Percy thinks,  _ it’s not all that bad. At least the rain isn’t pelting us anymore. _

The birds start circling them and Percy raises his wand as if it were riptide. A good shout of ‘ _ incendio’  _ should send the birds to Tarturas, but he doubts that it will work with the amount of rain.

Soon, Percy can’t even  _ see  _ the lightning or the rain anymore because of the birds. He can only hear the thunder.

Behind him, he hears Harry whisper something to Ron. Percy would've heard it if it wasn’t for his heart pumping through his eardrums.

He blames his adrenaline for what happens next.

“ _ Incendio,”  _ Percy shouts, with much more force than necessary. He’s  nearly sent staggering into Harry and Ron by the force that erupts from the end of his wand. Bright, hot, blue and red fire explode from the end of his wand. It bursts out in a ball of flickering flames, encasing the birds - and  _ them -  _ into a flaming ball of fire.

The birds start spreading out in panic, which causes the ball of flames to expand outwards. Tiny dots of fire fly around the area because some birds aren't able to flick the flames off themselves. Most birds explode into dust while others have their fire put out by the rain.

Harry and Ron get up while Percy touches his hand, a burning sensation entering his nerve system. He spreads his hand out, letting rain drop onto it.

Above them, the birds start circling again, their eyes bloodthirsty.

“Mate, You made them angrier,” Ron says, making Percy look behind him. Percy sees that the feather is gone from Ron’s back, who looks plenty thankful from the release of pain.

Percy returns his gaze to the birds.

They’re not going to defeat the birds if the rain is still here. He needs Ron and Harry to go out of the forest when Percy moves the rain out of the way. He can’t have them watching.

“Harry,” Percy addresses the wizard, making him glance at Percy. “And Ron - get to the entrance of the forbidden forest and wait for me there. I’ll take the long way to get rid of them, got it?”

Harry narrows his eyes to Percy and says, “I’m not leaving -”

Percy lets out an exasperated sigh and says, “ _ please.  _ Get a Professor or something. I’ll distract them.”

A look of determination - and admiration - spread across Harry’s face. A moment later, Harry says, “what happens if you get downed? You’ll be on your own.”

Percy thins his lips and says, “then you better get moving.”

Harry glances at Ron, who shrugs at him. “Fine,” Harry says, “but if I don’t see you after two minutes, I’m coming back in.”

Percy looks back at Harry but stops when he’s the nonnegotiable look on his face. “Okay,” Percy says, making his voice sound like;  _ I’m not happy about this. _

Harry nods and turns to Ron. The redhead glances to Percy for a minute before saying, “don’t die.”

Percy grins and says, “I’ll try not to.”

The demigod eyes the birds in front of him, knowing when  _ he  _ moves, the birds do as well. His gaze  momentarily shits to the trees - where he eyes a break between the treeline. He frowns, thinking,  _ I’ll jump over the log and through the tree branches. _

To his right, he hears the distant cracking of leaves and twigs. Ron and Harry are too close - they’ll see the rain shift. With another glance at the path,  _ I guess that path is the only way.  _ With a grin on his face, Percy looks up at the birds. He meets the gaze of one and a tinge of pain appears at the small of his back.

He raises his hands and says, “what are you waiting for?” The birds start at the sound and Percy turns around and races towards the path he planned out. He hears the birds behind him, their wings flapping in sync.

* * *

Percy’s breath turns laborious after his five minutes of sprinting. It would have been a shorter sprint if he didn’t have to avoid underbrush, logs, and branches. Cuts dance across his arm’s and his cloak is long forgotten - snagged on a bush a couple of minutes ago.

He doesn’t slow down, his mind is aware of the birds flapping their winds behind him. A whistling sound appears beside his ear and Percy backs into a tree as a feather passes by, clipping his ear. Percy lets out a hiss and looks up in the chance to see the birds darting towards him.

To his right his eyes land on the outline of the edge of the forest. He’ll be out in the open - open to more eyes witnessing him use water. Gritting his teeth, Percy jumps away from the tree he’s propped against. 

Behind him, he hears the tree fall with a crack as a heavy amount of weight pushes against it. He ignores this and races towards the edge of the trees. Making sure there’s enough space between him and the birds, he spins towards the birds.

He thrust his hand up, try to move the rain with him.

Nothing happens - aside from another lightning strike.

Percy’s eyes widen and for a minute, he’s confused. His surprise wears off within a minute when the birds are upon him within a minute. Turning back around, he feels the nip of the birds at the back fo his neck.

He doesn’t let them get any closer.

He races towards the stream up ahead. Feathers are whistling past him and Percy can  practically feel their beaks on his back. He’s not going to last much longer - exhaustion is kicking in and his adrenaline is dropping.

He dives into the stream, creating a splash around him. Above him, birds  fly by as rain pounds into him.

He tilts his head into the cool water and lets out a small sigh. The birds are approaching once again, and Percy’s minute of relief is  slowly washed away.

With a groan, Percy gets to his feet and turns to face the Stymphalian birds. Below him, the water rushes past his feet, creating new and tinier streams. Closing his eyes, Percy tugs at his gut, trying to reach for the water in the stream.

The birds aren’t attacking him - Percy decides it’s because they’re wondering why Percy isn’t moving. A moment passes and Percy brings out his wand. This causes the birds to move in on him. He won’t have enough time to cast a water bending charm _ and  _ a fire charm. 

Yet, he has to try.

“ _ Volant”  _ The rain stills in the air and Percy grins. It’s wiped off his  quickly when the birds don’t stop. Percy backs away -  momentarily forgetting the spell. As Percy puts his hands up to cover his face, he hears someone shout something from behind him.

“ _ Incendio!”  _ Fire erupts into Percy’s vision, making him stumble back into the stream. The fire explodes into the birds, making the birds scream out in pain.

Percy snaps his head to the side, craning to see who came to rescue. Harry stands between two trees, his wand raised towards the birds. A look of surprise crosses Harry's face for a minute.

_ He wasn’t supposed to come back. _

“What even are those things?” Harry pants, out of breath. Percy lets out a breath, “where’s Ron?”

Harry turns his attention to Percy and says, “went to get a Professor.”

Percy frowns as more Stymphalian birds appear, racing towards Harry and Percy. “Where are these birds coming from?” Harry curses, raising his wand for another volley of flames.

It gives Percy an idea.

What if he’s able to summon his magic through his wand?  Technically , a wand is only a conductor of magic. At least, that’s what Chiron explained to the demigods. _ Hecate knew that some would not be able to use magic on their own so she created wands from magical properties.  _ He’s heard about the use of accidental magic when a person’s upset - and how they didn’t need a wand to use their magic

He hopes he’s right about this.

Behind him, Harry goes flying into the ground, kicking up the dirt. The birds let out a screech and chase after the fallen wizard. Furrowing his brows, Percy raises his wand towards the birds. With a narrowed focus, he pushes again, remembering the feeling of summoning water.

Nothing happens.

Percy tenses and he digs his heels into the ground. Percy thrust his wand out again,  practically throwing his weight in as well.  _ I Am not about to let Harry die because I can’t summon my water - _

The stream burst to life and it explodes around Percy. He fights to keep control of the water around him so he digs his heels into the ground to steady himself.

The water creates a large jet of water and Percy directs it towards the pile of birds on Harry. The rain joins the stream as the water collides with it. Then, it shoots towards the birds.

Percy winces when the water collides with the pile of birds. Somehow, the water is strong enough to kill the nearest birds as others go flying away - escaping into the forest. 

Percy drops the water, his head throbbing.

A moment later, Harry gets up - drenched head to toe with water. He looks like a disaster, with his hair looking like a mop. “A little warning before I get drenched,” Harry grumbles, making Percy give him a sheepish grin.

“Sorry,” Percy says.

Glancing up, Percy spies the birds running off into the sky as the storm clouds clear. “What even are those things?” Harry inquires again, his eyes glued onto the birds flying away. Percy frowns and says, “no idea.”

_ Liar. _

“We should be heading back,” Percy says, “Ron will already be with a Professor.”

Harry’s brows crease but he doesn’t say a word. Together, they head back towards Hogwarts - to where everyone will be waiting for them. That is if Ron got to a Professor in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is sorta split into two parts. The first have is important for the plot and stuff, so it's important that you guys read it. It goes into play with the ending. 
> 
> since schools coming back, I'm either deciding to try to get most of my chapters out before school starts or try to write this story during that time. If school starts and I'm not updating as regularly, it's because I'm more focused on school. I'll try to update consistently. 
> 
> Or, I'll do updates twice a week before school starts, so I have fewer chapters to write while in school. What do you guys think?


	12. Chapter 11 - I question the Cult Leaders Sanity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back and edited the book.
> 
> This chapter is officially the first chapter that I wrote from scratch. My others were just me rewriting from my rough version. I also have the ending of the book in my mind and I may or may not have to write a second book. Perhaps I'll just add on? I don't know. 
> 
> It's officially PART II. 
> 
> Since I wrote this version from the top of my head (and edited twice), there may be some spelling mistakes and/or problems. Feel free to help me out. Also, mild swearing at the end.

_**PART II - ANEMOIA** _

_Nostalgia for a time you've never known_

Ana glances around the Graveyard, her grey eyes trailing the disappearing dark figures. Her heart hammers in her chest as the last of the wizards and witches disapparate from the graveyard. A moment later, everyone is gone, leaving Ana alone in the Graveyard. 

Not that no one noticed her before. 

Sitting atop a tree covered by thick branches and leaves, Ana’s legs drape over a thick branch she claimed as her own. She’s always been able to blend in with things, a talent of hers that’s proved useful many times before.

A strong breeze whips her hair out of her bun, making it smack her face. She reaches an arm up to slap away her hair. In the process, her body tilts forward and fall from the tree. Within a minute, she’s on the ground twelve feet below her with an aching back. Ana bites back a whine of pain and sits up. Rubbing her head, she glances at the rectangular patch of fresh dirt a couple of feet away.

_Her_ grave.

The young witch gets to her feet and brushes herself off, swiping at the dirt on her legs. A minute later, she’s walking towards the grave everyone was standing at. As she does, her fingers wrap around her wand in her pocket and bring it out. With a slight flick of her wrist, the disillusion charm disappears, making her bare to the world. 

Hopefully, no one decides to come back (she can obliviate them, though. It's not a big hassle). 

It would be an inconvenience and a waste of time though.

She turns her attention—albeit, slowly―to her old friends’ grave. When she sees the new and polished tombstone, she can feel something breaking inside her. She doesn't know what it is but she doesn't want to linger on it.

She lets out a broken breath of air and staggers towards the tombstone. The stone towers above the other graves, with the words _Elham Shafiq_ , carved into the granite.

As she takes in the name, her mind flickers back to the eventful night.

_Patted on the back as she carries the bloody body—_

_Casting a body binding spell as her friend begs—_

She doesn’t say anything as her knees give out beneath her, forcing her to sink to the grass. As her vision grows blurry, she brings her hands up to wipe away the tears. 

_You did this for a cause. Make it a good one._

Taking in her friends’ grave, Ana’s chest tightens. 

_Make her death worth it._

She sits there for a while; her eyes closed with her knees pressed against her chest. As the wind blows at her hair, she hears a voice in her mind say, _I have nine days to find this ex-member. Who knows what will happen if I don’t find them in time._

After another minute of silence, she gets to her feet and opens her eyes. The sun is right above her, glowering down at her. _Your fault. Your fault._

She sucks in a breath and glances at the grave bearing her friends’ name. _I need to get going._ Getting to her feet, she gives the grave one last look.

“Goodbye,” she whispers, turning away. _Nine days. I have nine days to find this person. If I don’t—_

_Who knows what will happen?_

She feels a pull in her gut as she steps towards the forest. The feeling is familiar.

It’s like a second language now that she's allowed to appariate wherever. 

Closing her eyes, a picture in her mind pops up: an empty graveyard in a field of wheat, surrounded by pine trees. Off to the side is a rundown building, it’s chimney collapsing onto it, waiting for the perfect wind to strike it. 

It has a nostalgic feeling to it, even though she’s never visited the place before. Rubbing her eyes, the image crawls in her mind and when she takes another step, she disapparates away. 

The tug in her gut pulls at her. With a rough tug, she gets sent between worlds for a short second. She has to dig her heels into the ground (if there's even a ground) so she doesn't lose course to where she's projecting herself to be. A moment later, the feeling disappears, taken over by the smell of pine and rustling wheat. When she opens her eyes, gold enters her vision. 

She glances around at the abandoned farmhouse―at the bright blue sky with no other buildings in sight. Nature at it's finest—aside from the eroding house off in the distance.

She’s not surprised that the ex-member would appear here―it’s a cozy place to live. It's also worthy to note the fact that any other civilization is pretty far out. Someone would be able to do anything out here and get away with it. She shakes the thought from her head.

Then, her attention turns to the graveyard half a kilometre away. 

Then, she looks down and finds herself looking to the gravel path leading to the graveyard. _At least I won’t have to trudge through wheat._

* * *

She gets to the graveyard―or rather, the entrance to the graveyard. Glancing up at the looming rusted gate, Ana squints at it. Pine trees shroud the gate, the branches attaching to gates as if the trees formed with the gate. She wouldn't be surprised if it was true.

She tilts her head to the side, her eyes finding the pointed tops of the fences that lead off to surround the graveyard. Unless she wants to get impaled, she’ll have to burst through the gates. 

Her fingers wrap around the rusted steel and she pushes her weight into it. The gate creaks and budges a little but doesn’t open. Ana draws her brows up in confusion and takes another glance at the gate. This time, she rams into, taking an extra step back. Her plan is fruitful since the gate only moved two feet. _There must be a charm on it, then._

With a sigh, she brings out her wand. She raises it and points it towards the middle, where the weakest point of the gate would be.

“ _Bombarda_ ,” Ana shouts, her voice echoing throughout the farm. A minute later, the gate explodes, the chain bursting away. She winces at the sound, which takes over the farm. _So much or being quiet._

She enters the centuries-old graveyard, stepping over a rusted pole from the gate. She ignores the mess she made―she’ll clean it later.

A moment later, she gets onto the gravel path leading to different rows of graves. She starts walking between the different rows, her eyes glancing for anything new. Which is going to be easy, considering how old everything looks. 

Her heels slip over the loose gravel and Ana nearly hits the rocks below her. She stretches out her arms and starts windmilling them to keep herself outright. After she's sure she won't fall, her cheeks start to burn and Ana looks around as if nervous anyone saw _that._

Stepping away from the gravel and onto the grass, she looks up to scan the graves in the row in front of her. All are as old as Hogwarts—or looks as old.

One grabs her attention―one with fresh and pastel coloured flowers laying on the grave’s side. 

It piqued her interest enough to make her way towards it.

Squatting down to touch the grave, her gloved hands meet the cool and mossy stone. Ignoring the green overtaking the grave, her eyes go to race the words carved into the stone. She’s unable to read the first sentence, but the year is chiselled below the name.

_988 A.D._

Her eyes narrow at the year, making her glance towards the flowers again. For this graveyard to still be in okay shape, someone has to be using a repairing charm on it. And for it to be this old without eroding away, people must be maintaining it for a long time. A thought in her head makes her wonder, _It has to be a family graveyard._ _How else would it still be this new? Too bad I can’t make out the name._

It gets her thinking. 

Her fingers dip away from the grave and she stands up. She draws her wand out a minute later and goes to flicker it towards the flowers. _I’ll find out who it is if I can cast a -_

A twig behind her snaps. 

She jumps and her spell hits one of the graves beside her. Luckily, the grave didn’t move. She isn’t focused on the spell at the moment though. She’s more worried about the intruder. 

Spinning on her heel―which is a bad idea considering that she’s wearing heels―she faces the person behind her. 

Her heart nearly drops into her stomach when she sees who it is. 

She scrambles to drop her wand into her pocket, her cheeks growing warm under her. “Apologies, my—”

The Seer waves his hand, his fingers covered by a dark glove. 

Ana’s brows furrow. 

_It must be getting worse._

He steps forward, leather boots appearing under his cloak and robes. Ana’s throat constricts as he draws near and she has to dig her hands into her pocket to stop them from trembling. Even though she’s a part of the top faction, there's still fear lingering in her heart. She knows its silly since everyone is ' _equals_ ' in the _ducbius_ faction. 

She takes a fleeting look to his face, half concealed by the shadows of his hood. She doesn’t understand how someone can look so young but act so old. Well, he’s _obviously_ older than her. 

It takes a minute for Ana to realize that the Seer is silent beside her. It’s embarrassing how long it takes Ana to realize that he’s gone still. _Is he mad?_

_Don’t be afraid. Try to summon the same courage you had when you faced him the first time. When I looked into his eyes._

Ana coughs into her fist and summons her determination. She glances at the grave in front of her, the grave that the Seer is looking at. 

“Did I miss a meeting?” Ana inquires, her voice steady. 

“No. In fact, we’re having one shortly,” the Seer replies, his voice low, barely audible over the ruffling wheat. Ana’s brows shoot up and she says, “another sacrifice?” 

A minute later, she mentally kicks herself. _You can’t just say—_

“Not exactly,” the Seer replies and Ana winces at the roughness of his voice. “More like… a transition of power,” he says. A minute later, he adds, “and a transition of control.” 

It leaves Ana more confused.

The wind blows in front of her, making the trees sway to the side, showing off the golden wheat in the distance. Ana purses her lips as the Seer reaches down to wrap his fingers around the flowers. She frowns as he picks the flowers up as though they were made of glass.

She doesn’t say anything.

She doesn’t say anything as he leans in to take a whiff of the scent from the flowers.

Abruptly, he unfurls his hands, letting them fall to the ground. She does her best not to shrink away from him when he turns towards her. She bites her lip and ties her determination to the pain. 

She meets his gaze. _You can’t show fear or hesitation._

“And you are here because?” His voice is soft but questioning. 

Her heart stops in her chest. 

“I…” Ana trails off, her voice betraying her. Trying again, she says, “Ashiva gave me the job to find this ex-member. I’m nearly...” 

She waves her hand towards the cemetery and says, “tracing the tracks towards him.” 

The Seer doesn’t respond for a minute. 

“Ashiva?” He finally asks, tilting his head to the side.

“Yes—”

“Ashiva shouldn’t be giving new members dangerous jobs,” The Seer interrupts. It makes Ana shrink back in her cloak.

“I’ll get one of the other _Scurra_ to track them down. You don’t have to worry about this job anymore,” the Seer says. If Ana doesn’t know any better, she would think the Seer would be sneering. The telltale voice of her Mama echoes through her mind again. 

_The Lord is a dangerous man - his father was powerful, but he is more so. You needn’t worry about his anger, he only directs it towards the people who betrayed his ancestors. Cursed them. Turned their back on them. We―our ancestors―stood by his side, so he has no need to turn his anger on us._

Ana shoves the voice to the back of her mind. Instead, she thinks about how she should be relieved. She should be _ecstatic_ that she isn’t doing something this dangerous. _How come she's not relieved that she's not on a stressful mission?_ Instead, she feels deflated. _Resentment._ It leaves a bitter taste to her mouth. 

_Does he think I’m not powerful enough to handle this? Is that it?_

She’s brought out of her thoughts when the Seer crouches down. His hands come down to rest onto the worn-out name on the grave. Ana doesn’t say anything, instead, she watches his fingers trail the chiselled path on the stone. 

“These were my ancestors,” he says. Ana goes white when he begins speaking, his voice softer than she expected. _I should stop going so deep in my thoughts. I get cut off guard every time._

“We all had a job to do…” he whispers and Ana struggles to hear him. 

“And I’ll be the first one to see revenge,” he says. He chuckles, his voice sounding bitter. He looks to her and says, “ _successfully_ , that is.”

Ana scrolls through her mind, remembering the tails she was told in her village about the Seer’s lineage. _A curse, from the ones that blessed us. They see it as a fair punishment after his ancestors tried to go above and beyond. In their own arrogance, they struck blindly. It’s only a matter of time before he strikes back._

“You were one of the sacred twenty-eight?” Ana inquires. 

“And a bit more,” he whispers, his voice an echo. 

Ana drew her brows up in confusion. 

The Seer stands up again and he brings his hands up to wipe away invisible dirt. _A bit dramatic, don’t you think?_

“We’ve got a meeting to attend.” 

* * *

Hogwarts looms over Ron as he runs towards it, his heart hammering in his chest. He’s been running for over thirty minutes. Albeit, he did have some breaks. It becomes apparent he might need a break when he starts hearing his feet hitting the ground in his mind.

  
  


The roar of thunder and crackle of lightning spur Ron on. He glances behind him, his eyes on the forest. He thinks about Harry being in the forest during the storm - _alone_ with the weird birds. He doesn't even know what the birds are and he's been in Hagrids class for the longest time. Or he's going to learn about them soon.

He shakes his head, _he can’t fail his friends (and new ones)._

His hair and his uniform are stuck to his skin due to the falling rain. Some slam into his face, like feathers he got struck by no more than ten minutes earlier. 

He supposes it can be worse. He doesn’t have his robe or cloak with him which would weigh him down if they were still on him. Both got snagged on an outstretched branch while Ron was running towards Hogwarts.

He ignores the thought of where his clothing might be and speeds into school. His footsteps echo through the hall as he lurches to the side to go through a new hall. He almost slams into Argus Filch and Mrs. Norris. 

Ron glances up at the old man and takes a minute to suck in a breath. All the while, Flich is trying to come up with a sentence but only manages to sputter in anger. Ron doesn’t wait around for Filch to respond as he turns on his heels and starts thundering down the hall. 

He bolts towards the stairs, not knowing where to go. He doesn’t know if he should go to a Professor or to Hermione. She would know what to do - but Jason is back there, and most likely knocked out cold. Perhaps he’s awake, but he might have injuries that stop him from getting anywhere.

A Professor it is. _Perhaps I’ll run by Hermione on my way to a Professor -_

Ron skids to a stop, his heels trying to find grip in the stone ground. There is none, so he lands on his butt on the floor. He glances up towards the Professor, a sheepish look gracing his face. He realizes it isn’t just any Professor. 

Headmistress McGonagall stares back with pursed lips. Behind her, Ron spots Hermione with Ginny, Reyna and Thalia. Hermione’s face is one of disappointment. 

The Professor’s voice brings Ron’s attention back to her. 

“Headmistress McGonagall -” Ron starts. 

“Mr. Weasley, I sure hope you have a good reason for running down the halls,” the Headmistress states and Ron winces. 

“Yeah about that…” Ron says. A moment later, Ron’s on his feet, his butt aching, and turns his attention towards the others. In rapid-fire, Ron explains everything that happened in the last twenty (thirty?) minutes. He watches the Headmistress raise her brows a few times. Sometimes, the Headmistress would have an occasional look of disappointment on her face. 

He explains that he, Harry, Percy and Jason went into the forbidden forest. He had to go back and explain his reasoning because the look on the Headmistress’s face is one to be afraid of. He tells them that the wizard may have been under a trance so they followed the trail that the wizard may have used. 

“He could have been under an Imperius curse,” Hermione points out.

"No one can enter Hogwarts without permission, let alone death eater," Hermione adds.

“And he may have gotten more than he expected since you four followed him in,” Ginny says, glancing at her brother. 

Ron scowls at her. He turns his attention back to the headmistress, who’s brows are knit together in confusion.

“Anyway, we got attacked by these birds that can shoot feathers at us. Their beaks were insanely sharp,” Ron says. He doesn’t miss the look Reyna and Thalia share with one another. He’ll save it for later - if he survives Headmistress McGonagall’s detention, that is. 

“I’ve never heard birds like those before,” Hermione says. 

“Well, we can ask Hagrid about it,” Ron responds. 

“Oh, and, the birds made us leave the trail we were following. Then, Harry cast a charm that cast an invisible wall between us and the birds. Only that Jason was behind it…” 

“The birds didn’t stop attacking the wall, which caused it to explode,” Ron says. 

Both McGonagall and Hermione raised their brows at this. 

“I― _we_ ―got knocked out for a minute. When we got up, the whole area was destroyed and it was raining pretty hard with lightning in the sky. Anyway, it created a wall between us and Jason so we couldn’t get to one another. We learned that fire was the only thing that affected them. We tried using the _Incendio_ charm, but the rain got denser,” Ron says, out of breath. 

“We had to leave because there were too many birds and we had to leave Jason behind. Eventually, Percy told us that we had to split up so we did. Harry and I got to the edge of the forest and he told me to get a Professor while he went back in to find Percy.” 

He left everyone to soak in the story as he tried to catch his breath. 

“That’s quite the story, Mr. Weasley,” The headmistress says after a minute. 

She turns to Hermione and says, “Ms. Granger, go to the hospital wing. Tell Madame Pomfrey to prepare for four injured students.” 

Hermione bows her head and says, “I will.” She passes Ron and gives him an _I’ll talk to you later_ look and walks down the set of stairs. Ron has a feeling like his soul is going to be scolded out of his body tonight. 

“Ms. Weasley, find the head of the houses and tell them the search is off. On the way, tell Professor Brunner that I’d like to have a chat with him,” The Headmistress says to Ginny. Ron glances at his sister, who opens her mouth to protest. 

With a stern look from the Headmistress, Ginny turns and speeds off towards the stairs. 

It leaves Ron with the two transfer students and the Headmistress. He takes a fleeting look to Reyna and Thalia, who are whispering to one another.

Ron turns to the Headmistress, who says, “Mr.Weasley, do you mind leading us to were you came from the forest.” 

Ron glances at Reyna and Thalia, who give him innocent glances. 

“Sure,” Ron says and as soon as he says it, his feet start to ache. I'm going to take a long nap after this. 

“Follow me.” 

* * *

The sun in the sky was setting by the time Ron and the others arrived at the edge of the forest. Ron arrives first and he plants his hands on his knees and lets his breath catch up. At the sound of footsteps behind him, he looks behind him to see Reyna and Thalia slow down into a walk. The Headmistress is a minute behind. 

Both Gryffindor girls eye the treeline. Their eyes grow dark as they stare into the dark forest. 

It makes Ron shiver from the intensity of the stare. 

He looks away, an instinct in him saying, _don’t mess with them._

Ron turns to the tree’s, his eyes glimpsing over any tiny movements for any sign of Harry - and Percy. 

Light explodes above them and Ron jumps back, nearly staggering to the grounds. He’s too focused onto the treeline to notice the sky above. “There,” Reyna says, gesturing to the sky. 

_Harry and Percy will not be flying through the sky._

Nonetheless, Ron follows her hand. In the sky, a flock of giant silver birds explode. Ron recognizes them as the birds that attacked him. A moment later, the birds turn their direction and head further into the woods - away from Hogwarts. 

Ron lets out a sigh and turns back to the Headmistress. 

He doesn’t miss the two looks Reyna and Thalia give each other. Nor does he miss the two of them leaning in to whisper to one another. 

“Headmistress McGonagall, those were the birds that attacked us,” Ron says. He glances up at the Headmistress, whose eyes are following the birds. 

Ron glances back at Reyna and Thalia but both of them are glancing at him with innocent looks on their faces. 

“It looks like they got scared and ran away. All we can do is wait for them at the moment,” the Headmistress says. Ron can feel the Headmistress’ eyes on him and he winces. He waits a minute before turning back around to face the Headmistress.

“And for going into the forbidden forest alone, I should retract twenty points. Five points for each student,” the Headmistress says. 

“ _But_ …” Ron says, prompting the Headmistress on. 

“I’ll only retract eight. You tried to save the student even if you didn’t know them…” she says and Ron almost sighs aloud. 

He catches himself and nods his head fervently. 

“Than -”

“Eight points from Gryffindor,” the Headmistress says, cutting Ron off. Ron can almost feel the points getting redacted from his house.

The only thing he fears more than losing points is imagining the angry students that he’ll have to face. 

“Ah, thank you,” Ron says, more in a wince. 

“Don’t do it again,” the Headmistress says, her voice a warning. 

Reyna’s voice breaks into the silence. “Headmistress - over there,” Reyna says. Headmistress McGonagall's head snaps up and Ron turns around, his eyes snapping to the forest. 

It takes a minute for Ron to notice the humanoid figures running towards them. Both looked soaked to the bone - even though it stopped raining a couple of minutes ago. The only remnant of the storm is the occasional lightning in the distance. 

When the first person looks up, Ron recognizes the face immediately. It was embarrassing for how long it took him to recognize his face.

“Harry!”

The face snaps towards the noise and Ron can see Harry grinning, his face a little bloody. Behind him, Percy looks up, the bottom of his face body soaked. 

The two of them erupt into the clearing - towards the people waiting for them. Everyone goes silent as Percy and Harry wheeze. A minute later, both boys collect themselves.

When Harry glances up at the Headmistress, he winces. 

“Detention, I’m guessing?” 

“After you get healed first, Mr. Potter,” The Headmistress says. She looks down, her eyes assessing Harry and Percy’s wounds. 

“All three of you should go to the Hospital Wing. I'll send a team to retrieve Mr. Grace," the Headmistress says. 

Thalia frowns and says, "wait. You guys were following the missing kid, right?" 

Percy frowns and says, "yeah?" 

"And the birds attacked you?"

"Yeah." 

"Were the tracks fresh?" 

"Yeah - wait," Percy says, catching on. 

Harry frowns and says, "what's wrong?" 

Ron can almost see the panic appearing on Percy's face. "What's wrong is," Thalia starts. 

"That the person who kidnapped the kid is probably still back there. By leaving Jason behind, you were allowing the kidnapper to take Jason too," Reyna finishes. 

Harry glances back to the tree, a look of guilt on his face. 

"Well _shit_ ," Thalia says. "I'm joining that search party," she adds. 

Headmistress McGonagall stares down at her through her glasses. Ron's surprised that Thalia didn't shrink away. He's even more surprised that she didn't say anything to Thalia. 

"First," The Headmistress says, turning to Ron, Harry, and Percy. 

"You three are heading to the Hospital Wing." 

This makes all three of them start groaning and whining. The Headmistress just shakes her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: You get some Theyna vibes.
> 
> Feedback? 
> 
> Any theories on what happened with the Leader/Seer?
> 
> Okay, I may or may not accidentally created a new arc for Percy.


	13. Chapter 12 - Hogwarts has a new class; Skydiving (Part I)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to do updates on Thursday now.  
> I lied, no Theyna vibes right now. Theyna vibes next chapter though  
> Shorter chapter today.

It started when Piper decided to sneak out of the dungeons when Professor Slughorn told them not to. Who is she to follow orders?

Now, an hour later, she’s covered in mud and is currently running away from a pack of Hellhounds. It can be worse, right?

She hopes she didn’t jinx herself with that thought.

* * *

“Why are we going back to the common room for?” Pansy inquires, her voice turning to a whine at the end. This prompts other students to start complaining, their voices coming out as whines. Pansy doesn't seem to notice the number of people complaining, her attention elsewhere.

Piper winces as the voices echo through the dungeon, cancelling out any other sound.

Glancing behind her, her eyes land on Professor Slughorn. The Slytherin in question is rubbing his temples and shaking his head. _Not in the best mood then._

Then, Piper peers up at the girl who started the noise. Pansy's eyes are locking onto an object behind the group. Piper can see a forlorn expression growing on Pany's face as they get further away from the stairs. Whatever she had been doing beforehand must've been interesting or the girl wouldn't be so sad. It’s as if the Slytherin will never see the bright of day again.

Piper can’t blame her—the first day she was down here, Piper had the same feeling as soon as the dampness hit her skin.

She also knows every Slytherin tends to be dramatic about everything.

As the Slytherins start to shift the point conversation, Piper shuts out the noise. She didn’t care less about the theories they're creating on why they're being sent back to their room. _As long as I'm alone, I'll be happy_ — _I don't want to be with any student in case another vision comes._

Now that she thinks about it, it seems like certain triggers spur her mind to the future.

Humouring herself, Piper thinks, _perhaps_ _I’m a seer._

Of course, other Slytherins might bother her once she reaches the common room, but she can stand them. The Slytherin's have gotten used to her sitting around the common room. With the other students though...

She’s a transfer _and_ a Slytherin which, when combined, can be a bad thing. She'd find herself chased by random students, asking about things Piper doesn't know. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, she finds herself annoyed. Not to mention the fact that if Piper has a vision in front of them...

She can almost imagine the questions she'll get.

She's shoved away from her thoughts when Professor Slughorn makes his way to the front of the group. Students bump into her as they form a space to allow the Professor to walk through.

With a flicker of annoyance, Piper glances up and finds herself looking at a dead end. They've reached the common room in record time. _Or rather, the entrance._

The potions Professor mutters a word and the stones in front of him start to shuffle away. A moment later, a narrow path appears which leads to the common room.

The Professor moves to the side, his eyes locking with the wave of green pushing through the tunnel. He doesn’t have to say anything to anyone as they rush past him.

When Piper steps inside the common room, her eyes pin onto a couch propped up against the wall. Not waiting for anyone else to steal the spot, Piper darts towards the couch. As she situates herself onto the couch, students start appearing from the halls. Soon the two groups collided into one big one as they take their seats.

“Aye, what’s going on?” A Scottish voice echoes somewhere behind Piper. This makes everyone burst into question— _again._ Piper drops her head into her hands—this is going to be a long day.

Somewhere in front of her, the Professor starts talking.

Professor Slughorn steps forward and says, “if you want to know what happened, quiet down.” Almost immediately, everyone turns silent. _The perks of being the leader over a group of students who will learn information that can_ _be used_ _against someone_ _._

Professor Slughorn waits a minute before saying, “a student has gone missing.”

The common room remains silent as people process the information. Then, everyone starts exploding with questions. The Professor goes on as is if the common room is silent. _Almost as if he’s used to students freaking out after something may be_ _concerning_ _._

“I need the Prefects to buddy up with someone to scour Hogwarts for the missing student. No one is to go alone because the kidnapper can be dangerous. Headmistress McGonagall says we have a window of forty minutes to find this person," he says.

A minute later, the common room burst into action. Over the chaos, Piper can see the prefects choosing their partners. Draco is heading off with Blaise and Pansy's heading off with another girl. The common room is quick to grow quiet as the prefects disappear down the tunnel leading to the dungeons.

It leaves a total of six students inside the common room—the others disappearing into their shared room. Piper supposes that she could go to her room, where she could study for her quiz on Potions. There was only one other person in the room she shares—Pansy had taken the third roommate with her.

Then again… 

_It’s my_ — _our_ — _mission to protect the students_. She can’t do that if she’s locked in the dungeons of Hogwarts. She needs to help find this missing student—and the kidnapper. If she can find the kidnapper, she can charmspeak them into telling them about the cult.

_Wait._

_Why does Hogwarts have a dungeon?_

Piper shakes her head away from the thought, telling herself that she didn’t need to know why. Piper looks up, her eyes wandering around the common room. The closest person to her is a sixth-year girl, who has her head against her essay papers. _Good thing that isn’t me at the moment._

The others are sitting by the fire—the least damp place in the common room—both whispering to one another. Sitting opposite of her a couple of feet away, two Slytherins play chess with one another. Both look like they'd rather be anywhere else, their eyes trailing the board with distaste.

This leaves five people in the common room—excluding Piper. _Where did the other one go? I swear I counted six people in the room?_ She glances up at the hall leading to everyone’s separate rooms. The Slytherin must’ve escaped to their room when Piper wasn’t looking. 

_It doesn’t make sense though. I counted six only a minute ago._

Taking a breath, she gets to her feet. She hopes that no one pays her any attention when she le—

“Whatcha doing?” A voice inquires behind Piper, making the daughter of Aphrodite jump. Spinning around, she comes face to face with a Slytherin—who is suspiciously familiar. A knowing smirk appears on his face as if knowing _exactly_ what Piper was doing. 

“Nothing,” Piper says, her voice more suspicious then she hoped. Cursing herself, Piper tilted her head to the side, eyes on the Slytherin. _I still have time to convince him._

The Slytherin’s brows raise and his gaze shifts to the tunnel behind her. Piper purses her lips as he glances between her and the tunnel. He’s making the connection but Piper is already planning what to say to him. 

“Doesn’t seem like it,” the Slytherin finally says, his eyes on the tunnel behind Piper. “Looks like you’re trying to escape and find out what’s going on.”

_More like, try to stop what’s going on._ Instead of saying that, Piper keeps the comment to herself. It could be a kid forgetting where he is. Knowing how big Hogwarts is, it wouldn’t surprise Piper. 

Piper opens and closes her mouth, unable to respond to his accusation. It’s obvious—she’d been staring at the entrance for the past five minutes. Not to mention the fact that she was watching the room like a hawk earlier. _Subtle isn’t your best quality, is it?_

She can always charmspeak him if he wants to snitch on her to a Professor. Better yet, he’ll try to make a deal with Piper. She can almost hear his voice saying, _I won’t tell if you do something for me in the future._

She finds that no one breaks their end of the bargain—they’re too afraid of what the other Slytherin would do.

Piper also picked up on how Slytherins would try to use any information they got to their advantage. She’s learned that much in the week of being at Hogwarts. 

This causes a plan to form in her head.

“Maybe,” Piper concedes, her mind thinking on the five different paths this will end up in. 

She did not expect the Slytherin to grin and say, “all you have to do is walk out.” _And_ _I might_ _tell them that the Professor that you’ve left the common room._ He doesn’t need to say it, Piper can hear the words he left out. Piper purses her lips and glances at the other Slytherin’s in the room.

She doesn’t want to know what this Slytherin is planning, or what favour he might need in the future. She doesn’t want to be a part of it. _But_ , she _can_ one-up him though.

Unless what’s happening is strictly demi-god business—which she doubts—she can take him with her.

“Come with me then. I don’t want to get kidnapped as well,” Piper says. A flicker of surprise crosses the blond’s face but he recovers before Piper can say anything about it. “I…” the Slytherin says. He can’t say ‘no’ because she’s made an obvious point _and_ she can tell that the boy is curious.

_Add another reason, and he’ll be with you._

“Unless, of course, you wanted to stay behind and snitch on me…” Piper says, a knowing smile crossing her face. The Slytherin doesn’t say anything at first, his eyes lingering on the other students in the common room.

Piper could hear him mutter, “ _I should have gone to bed._ ”

She grins.

“Alright—if we get caught, our excuse is that we’re looking for food,” the Slytherin says. Piper quirks her eyebrows but doesn’t question the excuse. Instead, she grins and says, “ _great._ ”

_If we get caught, I can pass the blame on to him. He was going to snitch on me, so it’s only fair. To add on to that, if there are someone kidnapping demigods, I’ll use him as bait._

Piper shakes her head and frowns. _Being a_ _Slytherin is getting to me._ Then, to convince herself, Piper thinks; _I’m_ _just_ _making sure he doesn’t snitch on me. I’d rather not have detention for a week. I won’t have any time to figure out what her visions mean_ — _or help the demigods stop the cultists._

They head towards the tunnel leading out of the common room and into the dungeon. Pulling her cloak tighter to her body, she glances behind her shoulder to make sure the boy is following. A couple of paces behind her, the Slytherin is taking his time to follow her out.

“What’s your name, anyway?” Piper inquires. _Might as well know his name if we’re going to be walking around Hogwarts together._ Plus _,_ she’d rather not refer to him as ‘ _the Slytherin_ ’ in her head the whole time.

“Grey,” he says after a minute, his voice oddly quiet. _Or he is usually quiet but he decided to get cocky on me._ Piper raises her brows once the name processes through her brain. _Grey._

She turns and faces the tunnel.

As Piper opens her mouth to say the word that’ll get the stones out of her way, a girl’s voice echoes down the path. Both of them freeze and Piper glances behind her, looking over Grey’s shoulder.

“Yes?”

“Where are you going?”

“To the kitchen to get food,” Piper replies with ease. Her eyes dart to Grey, whose mouth was open to responding. There was a movement from the corner of her vision and the girl appeared on the other side of the tunnel. Piper nearly groans.

_Please don’t tell me that she wants to come along._

“Can you bring some back for everyone?”

“Sure,” Piper says. The girl glances at Piper, her eyes assessing Piper. A moment later, the girl disappears from the tunnel.

“That was close,” Piper says, a hint of relief in her voice.

A minute later, both of them are on the other side of the tunnel, their gaze set for the stairs across the dungeon floor. As they start walking, Piper takes a good glance at Slytherin beside her. _He looks familiar too._

“Your name sounds familiar,” Piper settles on saying. Did they meet before? Piper tilts her head to the side, her eyes assessing him more clearly.

She must have shown the confusion on her face because Grey says, “I have a twin called Drey.”

“Uh huh,” Piper says, her mind going back to the first day of school. _He helped me get to class after I ran into him_. In retrospect, she should have denied his offer to help her get to class on time since she has to repay him somehow.

“Yeah, I know him,” Piper says after a minute. Strange enough, she hadn’t seen him after that—this is the first time she’s seen _him._

“Where to?” Grey inquires behind Piper, shaking her from her thoughts.

Piper hesitates for a minute. _I didn’t think I would get this far._

“Where is the highest point in Hogwarts? The Kidnapper would want to be outside Hogwarts as fast as possible. I want to see where he escapes to,” Piper says. Grey doesn’t say anything for a minute, causing Piper to look behind her.

He washes the impressed look off his face and replaces it with a neutral look. _Did he think I’m not smart enough to figure that out?_ He doesn’t notice that Piper had seen the look on her face. With a sigh, Grey says, “the astronomy tower.” She didn’t miss the impressed look on his face.

“The astronomy tower it is then,” Piper says. “Wait—how many stairs is that?”

A flicker of amusement crosses his face and says, “a little over twelve sets of stairs. Not to mention that we have to cross some halls to get to new sets of stairs.”

Piper groans inwardly.

* * *

After walking up who knows how many stairs, Piper manages to reach the astronomy tower. Of course, they had to take the secret tunnels that Grey somehow knew about. By the time they reached the top of the tower, Grey looked ready to collapse.

_Do they have no exercise/work out courses? At All? Everyone should run around the outside area of Hogwarts once a day so they’ll be fit._

“Why can’t I go back to the Slytherin common room?”

“Did you hear something?” Piper inquires, glancing at him with a raised brow, blatantly ignoring him.

She spots Grey’s eye twitching.

Piper opens the Astronomy door and humidity hits her strong. Piper cringes away and glances through the door—her eyes going for the sky that she can make out.

“Feels like a storm,” Grey says from behind Piper. She purses her lips and walks forward, not leaving the door open for him. She can hear a muffled, “ _ouch_ ” from behind the door.

She heads for the ledge as a burst of light explodes over the forest. Piper’s eyes widen a slight fraction and she walks forward. Her fingers wrap around the cool stone of the ledge as she leans over it, her eyes trailing the forest.

What could have caused that?

Perhaps it was lightning—but then why did it look like it was coming from the ground? And it looked red. As far as Piper can remember, lightning’s colours didn’t consist of red. She can still be wrong…

(Definitely wrong).

“Drey,” Piper says.

“It’s Grey.”

“Okay, Drey—”

“ _Grey.”_

“Drey, do you know any spells that explode with the colour red?”

Grey gives her an inquiring glance and says, “the stunning spell—stupefy—is the top one that comes to mind.”

Piper hesitates, thinking about what it does. _It can_ _potentially_ _knock someone out._

Piper grits her teeth and says, “I think we know where the kidnapper is.”

Grey frowns and follows her gaze—towards an opening in the forest. The trees are swaying away in all directions from where the light erupted. “Looks like it’s more than just a stunning spell,” he says.

Piper doesn’t respond, her gaze on the clearing. She’s unable to see anything, let alone being able to do anything to help. By the time she gets to the ground floor, the student and the kidnapper would be long gone.

She leans over the edge, her eyes struggling to see into the forest. She sees some movement near the edge of the forest, but there are too many trees in the way. Not glancing at Grey, she asks, “is there a vision enhancing spell by any chance?”

Grey sighs and says, “look harder.”

Piper sighs and stretches her body over the ledge, her eyes scanning the surrounding area. Rolling her eyes, she says, “thanks a lo— _ah!”_

Piper’s legs leave the stone floor and her hands go flying as she feels herself lift into the air. She hears Grey’s alarmed shout of panic and his quick footsteps on the stone somewhere behind her. As she goes flying off the ledge, hair flying in her face, her legs hit the stone behind her. A jolt of pain rushes through the lower half of her body.

Her eyes look around until her eyes land on the ground that she’s getting closer to her. Her panic starts growing as the ground starts to become the only thing she sees.

She hears a voice—somewhere above her— shouting, “ _leviosa_.” The voice goes practically unheard to Piper because of the roar of the wind.

A minute later, something hits the small of her back and she stops floating. As soon as this happens, another vision hits Piper hard. She nearly blacks out.

_She has her dagger out and she’s lunging towards a figure dressed in black. As she pushes the blade into the figure’s stomach, she feels the pinch of magic pulling her back. She let's go of the blade, the bronze clanging against the stone. She gasps_ —

“You looked like a flying squirrel, “a voice says, breaking Piper from her vision. Piper snaps her head up to glance at Grey. It takes a minute for Piper to notice that there’s a floor under her. It takes her another minute for Piper to realize her body is shaking from the sudden spur of adrenaline.

_Or from the vision._

Piper sucks in a breath, allowing air to move through her lungs.

“What?” Piper mutters. _Did he call me a squirrel?_

Piper struggles to her feet and sends a glare to Grey. “You cancelled out my thanks by calling me a squirrel,” Piper says and Grey rolls his eyes. Then, he looks to the side and his eyes widen. Glancing back at Piper he says, ” _look.”_

Piper spins around and glances outside, knowing better than to lean over the ledge now. She can barely make out the figures heading towards the forest, her eyes only able to see the top of their heads. As they get further away from Hogwarts, she’s able to make out the figures. She spots Reyna, Thalia, the Headmistress, and Ron run towards the clearing.

“What’s going on?” Piper inquires, her eyes searching the treeline. She can practically feel Grey’s eyes on her. He says, rather annoyed, “I wouldn’t know—I’ve been up here with you the whole time.”

Piper ignores him as her eyes lock onto the scene in front of her.

Harry and Percy explode from the forest with blood dripping from their faces.

Piper swallows and says, “I’m guessing they weren’t able to get the kidnapper.”

“And they got attacked along the way,” Grey says.

“That—that’s what I said but with different words,” Piper says. Grey shrugs and says, “well—”

A hoot echoes behind Piper and she jumps away from the ledge as if the owl was going to send her flying off. _I’m not taking any chances._

An owl swoops into the Astronomy tower and goes flying towards Grey. A look of confusion covers his face as the owl drops an envelope into his hands. The owl snaps its head towards Piper, giving her a curious glance. A minute later, the owl is gone, leaving Grey behind with a letter.

“Is that your owl?”

_What else would it be? Some random owl deciding that Grey deserves to read a letter?_

Grey hesitates for a minute, his eyes scanning the wax seal on it. “No,” he responds, his voice growing lower as his eyes glance at the seal. Eyeing the seal as well, Piper notices a spindle as the symbol on the wax.

_Fancy._

She doesn’t bother commenting on the symbol—he’s probably pureblood and that’s what purebloods do. _I have a fancy symbol to show that I’m above all you Half-bloods and muggle-borns. Ha-Ha, you losers._

Her attention snaps back to Grey, who managed to open the envelope. She watches his face, watching as his eyes grow darker as he reads the context in the letter. He folds the letter a minute later and he looks up at Piper. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll pick up some food for the Slytherins on the way down,” he says.

Piper opens her mouth—

“No, I’m not going to snitch on you,” he says, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Well, I’ve gotta go too,” Piper says, her eyes returning to the scene below her. She’s faintly aware of Grey racing out the Astronomy tower door after saying a short goodbye to Piper.

She’s too busy analyzing the scene behind her to watch Grey leave.

Percy and Harry start saying something to the Headmistress. Their look of panic on their face causes dread to grow in her gut. Wouldn’t Jason be with them? Reyna, Thalia, and Percy are all there...

Something doesn’t seem right, and Pipers going to find out why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was writing the description of Book 2 (even though I'm only a quarter done this book). I was trying to find a way to end this book and...
> 
> I'm so excited for book 2 lmao. I don't know who'll still be around to read it though but I'm going to have so much fun (and research) writing it. It helped me find out what the ending of this book will be. 
> 
> I also added some tags and its sort of a glimpse at what ya'll should expect.


	14. Chapter 13 - I Almost get Murdered by my inner monologue (Part II)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New word count record achieved! 
> 
> It if feels eerie at parts, It was like 11 at night when I was re-editing this and the only thing I could hear out my window is a distant train. It was spooky, to say the least. 
> 
> Also: I feel like Uncle Rick at the end you'll get why
> 
> TW// Blood/gore, getting sick. All at the end though.

Piper managed to reach the ground floor of Hogwarts in record timing. The only con from running down the stairs so fast is that, now, the back of her legs are burning.

At the back of her mind—the unworried part—thinks, _Chiron should at a course like this at Camp. It’ll help build leg muscle. Hell, it's a miracle that students at Hogwarts don't have incredible leg strength._

She reaches the bottom floor without flying into any Prefect or Professor, _yet._ She'd rather keep it that way too—it would be too much of an inconvenience for her. _I got down here, after twenty minutes, and I get sent back up for detention. How hilarious would that be?_

Piper glances around, eyes flying down each hall. After a minute, she lets out a breath and takes a minute to breathe.

A moment later, she's running through corridors, her footsteps thundering through the castle. She's surprised that no one hears her rushing through the school. By the noise of her footsteps she—

“ _Hey! Where are you going?”_

The voice echoes behind her and Piper winces. _Why did I jinx myself? Every single time..._

Piper doesn’t respond to the voice, nor does she look behind her. The voice sounds young, so Piper has hopes of getting away...

She passes a corner, and she lets out a small gasp. Her feet skid across the floor, trying to find grip when there is none. She brings her hands up and starts swinging them in wide arcs.

Her body slams into the stone wall, making Piper wince. Her hands push herself from the wall, no longer wary about falling on the ground now.

With a glance behind her, she begins her running in anew. 

_I will not get caught by a prefect trying to stop me. I’ve raced down too many stairs for this._

With another turn of a corner, she’s racing outside and onto the field. Her feet squeak with every step, the wet grass greeting her. She doesn't stop running, eyes set for the group of demi-gods and wizards near the forest.

She takes another step but her foot slips and the next thing Piper sees is the green earth in front of her. With a loud 'thump,' Piper's head hits the ground.

Piper lets out a groan and she looks up, cheeks burning. Their backs face Piper, so does their heads. She takes this as some kind of miracle that no one saw her slip.

Piper drags herself to her feet, fingers touching her nose. Her nose throbs in response but otherwise, she's fine.

_That saved me from embarrassment._

Knowing better now, she _walks_ towards the group. As she approaches the group, wet feet squeaking, heads turn to her.

Thalia raises her brows to Piper and Piper tilts her head to the side, giving her an inquiring glance. In return, Thalia gestures to her hair.

Cheeks burning once again, Piper reaches for her hair and feels the coarse texture of grass. Within a second, Piper's ruffling her hair, trying to rid herself of the evidence from when fell.

Once she finishes, she heads towards the group. As she draws nearer, she hears Percy say, “knowing Jason, he’ll still be unconscious.”

Harry’s eyebrows raised in confusion. “What does that mean?”

“Jason has a history of being knocked out from inanimate objects.”

Piper grins at the mention of Jason and bricks and heads over. Her mind flying over the thought of Jason being unconscious. "What are we talking about?" Piper inquires as she comes to stand beside Percy and the Headmistress.

_Wait a minute—did Percy say unconscious?_

She stops dead in her tracks, narrowed eyes flickering to Harry, then to Percy. Percy recoils from her gaze as Piper opens her mouth to speak.

"What do you mean by ' _he'll still be unconscious_ ' ?" At the back of her mind, Pipers surprised by how venomous her voice sounded. She's even more surprised when Ron stepped up to defend Percy.

"He wanted to stay and help," Ron intervened, eyes flickering between Harry and Percy. "But we pulled him away because the birds were all going to kill us!"

Piper is tempting so say ' _so_?' but she stops herself. Piper opens her mouth to say a retort but the Headmistress lets out a sigh. The reaction is instant; every head in the circle turns to her and Piper shuts her mouth.

Piper notices that the Headmistress is pursing her lips and her eyes are downturned. "We would get things done if we all stopped arguing," the Headmistress says. Her voice is sounding under control—as if she's restraining from berating everyone.

"I want to know why _they_ left Jason!"

Percy hesitates while Harry stiffens.

Piper glances between the two boys—then she glances at Ron. He’d know what happened—Piper saw him running from the trees!

When she makes eye contact with Ron, he shrinks back in his uniform.

Piper opens her mouth, an uneasy feeling settling in her gut. What happened to make the three boys run away? At the back of her mind, the reasonable voice in her head whispers, _they were going to get killed if they stayed._

Ron begins speaking. “We left him back there because there were too many birds. He may be—”

“Unconcious?” Piper inquires, her voice flat, cold even to herself. Ron frowns and from the corner of her eye, she sees Percy flinch.

_Of course, they’ll leave him behind._

“We’ll have a search party for him,” Reyna decides, ever the peacekeeper.

Piper purses her lips, anger swelling inside of her, and says, “why aren’t you guys more worried? You know _they_ are out there. They could have caught him!”

Piper balls her fist inside the folds of her cloak. _Is she the only one worried about him?_

Thalia’s brows raise and say, “he’s gone missing before—twice—and he turned out fine. I’m sure we’ll find him if we start looking now.”

Piper felt like throttling Jason’s sister. _How could she say something like that about her_ —

A hand comes and rests on her shoulder, jolting Piper from her thoughts. She glances up to see the Headmistress staring down into Piper, making the girl shiver. It rids her from her thoughts at least.

“We’ll start planning right away, we don’t have much time left.”

Piper bites her lip from responding. _Why are they so calm?_

She feels a pain starting in her head but she ignores it for the minute. _A symptom from face-planting in the grass._

At the back of her mind, she hears the Headmistress say, “Ron, Harry, Percy, go to the infirmary. I will create a search party to find Jason and the other student.”

Harry opens his mouth but closes it after getting a stern look from the Headmistress. Dropping his head to the side, Harry and the other boys leave for the hospital wing.

A rush of satisfaction hits Piper, momentarily overriding her growing headache. _If they leave Jason behind, they would leave us behind as well._

Piper frowns at the thought, her mind turning blank for a minute.

She doesn’t know where the thought came from—but it isn’t helping her. _She can't be getting angry at people for something they could get killed for._

She sucks in a breath and looks around the group. She’s getting mad for no reason. Hell, she doesn’t know _why_ she was mad.

She hadn’t talked to Jason since they broke up—casual conversation doesn’t count.

It isn’t fair for Piper to get mad at Thalia or Reyna, to be mad at _anyone_. It’s not like Piper is dating him…

Piper shakes her head and rubs her temples, trying to rid herself of her headache. _Maybe_ _I hit the ground too hard_ , she entertains herself with the thought. _I have a concussion and that's why my thoughts are all over the place._

To be fair, her thoughts came from nowhere—as if her brain had a mind of its own. Which, _in fair_ , it does. More so, the voice in her head turned sadistic or pessimistic.

“Are you okay since your angry he's not here?” Reyna’s voice makes Piper’s head snaps up.

Piper, in all her intelligence, goes, “ _huh?”_

She hears Thalia snort, causing Piper’s ears to turn red.

“I was thinking about some stuff. I didn't hear you,” Piper says, eyes glancing at the girls. To be fair, there's only Reyna, Thalia and the Headmistress left. The boys are long gone.

“Like what?”

“Uh—” Piper hesitates. She can’t tell them about that voice in her head and the raging headache. They'd think she's gone mad.

Speaking of the headache...

If the headache grows worse, she might get sick from how bad she feels. _Great, I'm getting a migraine._ _Just_ _what I need._

_Don’t say anything,_ the voice in her mind hisses.

“I saw a red light in the forest when I was in the Astronomy Tower,” Piper says, trying to add truth to her lie. _Good, make sure they don't know_ the voice whispers.

The headmistress raises her brows, a look of concern crossing her face.

“What is it?” Reyna inquires.

“It looks like your brother may have woken up already. By the sound of what Ms. McLean has said, Jason has gotten knocked out by a stunning spell. The castor must be powerful since Piper's able to see it,” the Headmistress explains.

Thalia’s head perks up like a deer caught in headlights.

Rather indignantly, Thalia says, “ _what?_ ” 

The Headmistress winces at the sound and says, “I’m certain your friends are returning—”

Footsteps squeak behind them and Piper raises her brows. _Is that what she sounded like? I'm making a mental note not to sneak up on someone in wet grass. Not to mention that I'll slip and fall..._

“I came as soon as I heard,” Annabeth says, her voice making the girls turn around. Annabeth walks up and takes an open spot beside Thalia and the Headmistress.

“I passed Percy on the way here. He looked stressed out so I had to come and see what’s happening—”

“You’re rambling, Chase,” Piper teases, forgetting about Jason for a minute.

Annabeth closes her mouth in return and Piper can see the struggle inside of Annabeth. A minute passes in silence before Annabeth says, “what about it?”

Thalia joins Piper and says, “Sounds like you’re stressed because _Percy’s_ stressed. Do you even know what you're stressing about?" 

Annabeth blushes and says, "I don’t see how that has to relate to anything. Maybe Percy told me and—” Annabeth halts, noticing the looks she’s given. Even the Headmistress is smiling a tiny bit.

With a sheepish look, Annabeth says, “no, I don’t know.”

Thalia cackles and Reyna rolls her eyes.

“Take a guess,” Piper says, giving Annabeth a chance to redeem herself.

Annabeth glances between Reyna, Piper and Thalia and hesitates. After a moment, Annabeth crosses her arms and starts connecting the dots. Piper can practically see the cogs in her head turning.

“Let me guess,” Annabeth says, eyes landing on Reyna and Thalia. The three girls look at one another as if saying, _boys._

“Percy, Harry and Ron went into the forbidden forest. I noticed the cuts on their bodies—along with the lack of robes and cloaks on their bodies. I’m guessing Jason was also there, but they split up and now he’s missing?”

“That’s...pretty accurate,” Thalia says, half-way surprised.

Annabeth smirks in return.

A moment later, a new set of footsteps alert the group of a new person approaching. Every head turns to see Ginny Weasley walking towards them, walking in her uniform alone.

Thalia’s brows raised at the approaching witch. Ginny waits until she reaches the group to explain why she's deciding to help.

"I saw Ron and the others pass by," Ginny says, crossing her arms. "I got only a sheepish explanation from him but I got what's going on. I'm here to kill some birds—and to find the kidnapper who’s ruining the peace. I haven't had a good year at Hogwarts and I want my final year to be a good one," Ginny explains.

Her voice leaves no room for argument, but Annabeth still tries. _This is demi-god business and we don't know if Ginny can keep a secret if we find anything of importance._

Annabeth opens her mouth to protest but Ginny says, “look. Won’t it look suspicious? The transfers are the ones who head into the forest to find this missing kid. Instead, the kid is still missing _and_ there's another person gone. It’ll look like you gave them away.”

Annabeth begrudgingly says, “I didn’t think of that.” Annabeth doesn't look like she agrees with Ginny. Alas, Annabeth knows it'll only seem suspicious if she tries to convince Ginny to stay behind.

Piper glances at Reyna and Thalia, trying to gauge their reaction. Thalia and Reyna look like they’ve found another girl to add to the 's _quad_ ’—or whatever group they're in.

(As far as Piper knows, only Reyna, Thalia and Rachel are in it).

Piper’s surprised that Reyna and Thalia haven't asked Ginny to join them yet. Piper has seen them hanging out during class but that's as far as Piper can tell. After all, she doesn't share common rooms with them. 

“Is there anyone else that we would like to include in this group? You’re running out of time to find Jason,” the Headmistress says, making all heads turn to her.

Piper almost forgot that the adult was here, too busy focusing on Ginny. When everyone jumped at the Headmistress’s voice, Piper isn't the only one surprised.

“Yeah—we’re slow though,” a voice says from behind them.

Hazel’s head pops up from behind the Headmistress. The girls glance to the two approaching figures—brows raised.

Hazel and Rachel appear after a minute, Rachel is a couple of feet behind Hazel, her cheeks red.

“How’d you get down here so fast? You two were on the other side of the field when I reached here.” Ginny inquires, a curious glance appearing on her face.

“We have a health course back at Ilvermorney,” Annabeth says before Hazel and Rachel has a chance to speak. The speed of her reply made Piper’s brows raised. _Does she have a mental list of excuses for any situation up there in her mind?_

Ginny grins at the idea and says with a sly tone, “I’d love to see a health course at Hogwarts. I’ll pitch the idea later—”

“We’re all wasting time,” Piper cuts in, annoyance building in her. She wants to find Jason and everyone’s trying to buy time. _Do they not care about him? Is there anyone else coming to interrupt us?_

The pounding in her temples starts again, making Piper reach up and rub her head. It disappeared when everyone started appearing and she hoped it had stayed gone.

“Yes, you are,” the headmistress agrees. “You have until early dusk to find Jason. I hope you return with him.”

“We will,” Annabeth promises.

The Headmistress lets out a sigh and draws her brows up in concern. Turning to Annabeth, she says, “I enjoy your optimism, Ms.Chase. But know you shouldn’t make promises you know you can’t keep.”

Annabeth opens and closes her mouth, cheeks turning red. Annoyed with the waste of time, Piper says, “we’ll _try_ our best to find him.”

The Headmistress tilts her head and says, “then go. You’re running out of time.”

* * *

None of them look behind them as they left for the forest, the tension thick in the air.

This time, they’re going to succeed.

_Piper knows it._

* * *

“Do you have everything in order?” The first one—cloaked—inquires.

“Of course, we wouldn’t them to catch us so early,” the other says.

“Good, keep it that way. We would want _them_ to find out—or find _him_.”

The other hesitates for a minute and says, “The barrier _is_ having some problems.”

“That’s why I’m doing something else.”

“Like what?”

“Let's say that _they_ have this ability for alerting creatures to their presence. ”

“Do...I thought those creatures don't exist here?”

The cloaked one doesn’t respond. And after a minute…

“You don't have to worry about why the creatures are here.”

“How can you be certain that the creatures will stop them from finding us?”

“Hybrid," the cloaked says. After a minute, he turns to the other person and says, "anything else that I need to know about?"

“Oh...um....No? I guess I’m leaving then?”

“Unless something does not go according to plan come back to me. I will take of it.”

The second hesitates for a minute. Then, they say, "are you sure you will be able to take them on if they're able to defeat the creatures?"

The cloaked figure lifts his hand into view and says, voice low, " _I've dealt with worse_."

The second leaves soon after, figuring that he shouldn't anger the cloaked one any longer. He can’t help but allow the shiver to crawl up their body. _What has he dealt with?_

He shakes his head. _You cannot question him or his past_ — _pasts. It may lead to expulsion._

_After all, the Seer knows all._

* * *

Rachel pulls Piper from the group, making them walk slower to avoid the others hearing them. Piper's brows raise in confusion and she glances to the redhead.

“What is it?” Piper whispers, tilting her ear next to Rachels.

“I have the next lines of the prophecy. I _was_ going to announce it to the group but Ginny’s here,” Rachel whispers backs.

“It’s going to be conspicuous if you going around and tell the group but _not_ Ginny," Piper all but hisses back.

“Nah—it’s been on my chest for the last ten minutes and I need to tell someone. Annabeth would start shooting off into question, Hazel will grow concerned. I don't want to explain it to Reyna or Thalia because they would try to figure it out on their own.”

Piper doesn't bother asking why Rachel trusts her with the information.

“So, what’s the prophecy?”

Rachel takes a breath before leaning in and telling Piper the Prophecy.

_'Wizards and demigods meet,_

_to serve and protect_

_and to fight the god that's never been beat_

_but beware, it’s never the one you suspect_

_for it wears the face of the ones you greet_

_and for your friends, you shouldn’t neglect.”_

Piper takes in the lines and repeats them in her head. Storing them for later, she whispers back her response to Rachel.

“It keeps getting worse with every line."

Rachel glances to the other for a minute, eyes on the wide arc they form. Reyna, Thalia and Ginny are talking to one another. Reyna is at the centre and front of the group, Thalia and Ginny flanking her sides. Annabeth and Hazel are a couple of feet behind—together, but not talking to one another. Annabeth's eyes are on the forest while her body is tense.

Rachel and Piper are at the back, five feet behind Hazel and Annabeth. Lest to say, Rachel and Piper would be the first to go in a horror movie.

Rachel turns back to Piper and nods her head, a grim expression appearing on her face. _For it wears the face of the ones you greet._

“Do you think the second line means that one of _us_ —” Piper glances around the group of girls heading into the forest. Would one of them betray her? The group?

Thalia or the others didn’t seem concerned that Jason is missing.

_That means I should hurry to figure out what my glimpses of the future are. It could save everyone from betrayal._

“—Is working with the cultist?” Rachel finishes, eyes scanning the group. Rachel doesn't look certain with Piper's idea.

Piper nods and said, “ _well,_ it can’t be Jason since he’s missing.”

“It means that someone we _know_ is working for a cultist. It could mean that a person at Hogwarts is a cultist. It doesn't mean that there's an imposter among us—the group of demi-gods, ” Annabeth says. She pops up from behind the two girls, making both girls jump out of their skin. 

“How long were you there?” Piper demands. Her eyes narrow as she glances over her shoulder to get a good look at Annabeth.

“It’s not like you two are being inconspicuous,” Annabeth reasons, peering between the two of them.

When she glances up at Piper, she reads her expression and adds, “I've been listening since the prophecy.” She gives them both a look before walking forward to join the stride.

“You guys shouldn’t be worrying about it at the minute. We have to deal with the elephant in the room first,” Annabeth says.

“But—” Piper starts.

Annabeth shushes her, a stern look on her face. “Don’t you see what’s happening with you? It’s not good being suspicious of your friends. We’ll be too focused on finding out who’s the betrayer, then stopping the cultist. It makes it so the cultists are having an easier time getting away with murder while we’re having a civil war."

Annabeth, the voice of wisdom.

_As always._

At the back of her mind, where her headache lurks, the voice begins again, louder than ever.

_How do you know she’s not the friend who’s betraying us? She’s trying to lead you away from the idea…trying to save herself._

Piper sucks in a breath and looks away from the blonde, trying to ignore the voice. She agrees with Annabeth, she has to focus on the elephant in the room.

She doesn’t notice the way Rachel and Annabeth share looks.

_She has to focus on_ —

“There,” Thalia says, making Piper snap away from her thoughts.

The quick gesture of her head snapping up causes the headache to come back in renewal force. Piper let’s out a pained and annoyed groan, unable to keep it in.

Rachel and Annabeth both jump at the sound.

Rachel glances at her, frowning, and says, “are you alright? You sounded like a whale.” It makes Piper turn a new colour of red.

“Yeah… I just… have a horrible headache,” Piper says through her teeth. _I’m going to throw up if this keeps up._

Annabeth narrows her eyes at Piper but Thalia interrupts, saying, “the path looks fresh."

Piper glances to where Thalia’s gesturing—through a throng of trees. In the middle of it is a worn-down path that bushes and grass have yet to take over. _It's_ w _here the darkest part of the forest is, where the roots are erupting from the ground. Where the branches block everything from sight in all directions._

_We're walking into an ambush._

“Damn it,” Annabeth curses, rushing forward, brushing past Piper. Piper recoils from where Annabeth touches her. As Annabeth walks towards the beginning of the path, her eyes furrow in concern.

A swell of something undefinable passes through Piper. It felt like anger.

_Why is she concerned now? Does she think we’ll get lost? That we’re getting close to Jason and she doesn’t want us to_ —

Piper shuts the line of thought off, denying such a thing. Annabeth could have betrayed the group at any time throughout the years—months. She wouldn’t do it now—would she?

“It’s a good plan for the kidnapper, although it might take them longer to cut through here,” Reyna says. Her eyes go to the shadows, where anything can be lurking. “To try and stop people from following…”

“We should get going and stop appraising the kidnapper,” Piper intervenes. She needs something else to focus on, rather than the voice in her head. She doesn’t know how much longer she can handle with headaches either and she doesn’t want to find out.

Ginny glances at her, eyebrows raised and says, “we weren’t but—”

Reyna’s walking towards the opening, crunching on the leaves as she heads past.

Thalia follows a moment later and Hazel goes in third. Ginny takes another glance to Piper, brows furrowed, before entering the path. Soon, Piper is the last one to remain.

_I’m coming, Jason._

Piper enters the group of trees, not looking back.

* * *

_It could be anyone one of them,_ the voice enters her mind. At first, Piper tries to ignore it. Alas, listening to the voice is easier than dealing with her headache.

She gives in within four minutes of walking down the path.

_Thalia didn’t look too concerned about Jason’s disappearance,_ the voice whispers. _It could be Reyna too, she spends too much time together with Thalia. You never know what happens between them behind closed doors. They may be scheming to kill you_ —

Piper sucks in a breath and glances around to see that the group had stopped walking.

“What’s wrong?” Piper inquires, glancing around the forest. Piper goes to her robes, where her wand hides in a nearby pocket. She needs to be expecting anything.

“We found where Jason got kidnapped,” Annabeth says in response.

“And where the group was attacked by birds,” Thalia adds. She glances at the group behind her before walking into a clearing that Piper cannot see.

The group heads into the clearing, where the trees are bending away from the center of the clearing. Piper later suspects that this wasn't originally a clearing.

Piper has to stifle a gasp as the 'scenery' comes into her view.

The unlucky trees are now miniature pieces scatter across the ground. The thickest part of their trunks is the only thing that remains.

With that being said, the trunks lay atop of one another, creating an imposing wall above them. It separates the demi-gods from the other side of the clearing.

_This is what they mean when they said they couldn't get to Jason._ Now Piper feels guilty (and sheepish) for getting angry at the boys. She can't imagine trying to get over the wall while birds nip at you.

She wouldn't even want to try to walk through the sides of the forest to get to the opposite side of the wall, either.

“Looks like nature is already re-building,” Thalia remarks, her tone dry.

Piper’s eyes return to the wall of trees, trying to see what Thalia meant. She doesn't have to look hard.

As Thalia stated, vines are starting to loop through the cracks of trunks. It makes the trunks squeeze together, forming a tightly knit wall. Roots that have erupted from the ground are making their way towards the trunk. They wrap around them to recollect what was once apart of them.

“It’s the forbidden forest, everything is magical here,” Ginny ventures, walking over to the wall.

“How do you know it’s not dangerous?” Hazel inquires, her eyes glancing at the moving wall then back to Ginny.

She shrugs and says, “if it’s anything like the whomping willow, it would be showing off how dangerous this is.”

“The _what_?”

Ginny waves her hand and says, “a tree that can use its branches to thwack people." She explains it as if the occurrence of a moving tree isn't hard to come by.

Annabeth opens her mouth to question it when Ginny brings her fingers up to touch one of the growing vines. When her fingers gently wrap against the bark, everyone stiffens.

Nothing happens.

Everyone lets out a breath, including Piper.

“See,” Ginny says, bringing her hand away.

“Now, we need to get across this thing,” she glances at the group. “How good we are with climbing?”

“We—Yeah, we’re good,” Rachel says, not sounding at all like she knows how to climb vines and tree trunks. It's almost as if her thought process is going; _t_ _hat wasn’t apart of my contract when I became Oracle._

“Can’t we explode it out of the way? There’s a spell to that,” Annabeth says.

Ginny hesitates and says, “Yeah. Your friend—Jason—is on the other side, right? Wouldn’t that potentially harm him?”

Ginny glances at the others, brows raised.

“I think the kidnapper got him to,” Piper intervenes. “We need to get to him before the Kidnapper gets away.”

Ginny sighs and says, “you should have told me that earlier. Here I thought we're going on a field trip to pick him up.”

She walks back a bit and says, “we don’t need to explode the whole wall—only enough so we can squeeze through.”

Without further argument, Ginny brings out her wand and points it to the wall.

Piper glances at the others around her. Everyone stiffens, some backing up. Others raise their hands as an act to protect themselves from projectiles.

Instead, Ginny says, “ _bombarda!" Ginny brings her arms up to protect herself from the explosion._

A moment later, a small portion of the wall collapses in on itself, smaller parts dropping onto Ginny. After a second, Ginny brings her arms away while wiping off the bits of nature that got on her. 

“Let’s get through—I see a new path nearby,” Ginny states, eyes straight ahead.

The demigods glance at one another as the witch steps through the hole she created.

“What do we have to lose?” Thalia inquires with a shrug. _Don't jinx yourself._

_You have no idea._

* * *

As it turns out, Ginny _did_ see a path. Most importantly, it looks like someone was being dragged away.

Ahead of Piper, first on the muddy path, Ginny glances at the trees with suspicion.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Ginny declares after a minute of thinking. Piper can't disagree with her—it feels like eyes are on her, following her every move.

A chill craws up her spine.

“It might be a trap or a decoy,” Reyna agrees. “We might get ambushed by them and then we’d all end up dead,” Thalia says, ever the optimist.

"Be on guard is what you're saying," Rachel says, her voice coming from behind Piper.

_One of you is a traitor,_ the voice in Piper’s head sings.

She shoves the thought away as she hears Annabeth speak. “Yes—look for any suspicious movement.”

“Like we weren’t doing that from the start,” Thalia replies, her voice sarcastic.

Under her breath, in front of Piper, Annabeth hisses, “ _I’m making sure_.”

Ginny snorts, eyes shimmering at the entertainment coming from the two girls arguing.

_Annabeth isn’t the traitor, I know that much._

_It could be Reyna and Thalia._

_Rachel, I’m uncertain. She did tell me the prophecy line so…_

_That leaves Hazel, doesn’t it? It can’t be Hazel because...well.. she’s Hazel._

Ahead of Piper, Reyna motions for Ginny to stop.

“ _I hear something nearby,”_ Reyna whispers. Ginny comes to an abrupt stop and glances around the forest.

“It’s too thick to see anything,” Ginny responds, eyes lingering on the bushes.

“And I don’t want to go out there and check, either.”

“What’s going on?” Hazel inquires, her voice somewhere behind Piper.

Piper turns and glances down, eyes landing on Hazel. “Reyna heard something,” Piper says.

Hazel glances to the front of the group, brown eyes glowing. Before Piper can turn away, Hazel grasps her arm.

Piper turns and raises a brow at Hazel and says, " _yes_?"

Hazel winces and says, "once this over, can I speak with you? I want to tell you something."

A bit confused, Piper raises her brows and says, "sure." _What was that about?_

The voices start again.

_The most innocent can be the one with the most power._

_They have a higher chance of tricking someone._

_The voice is taunting me._

Piper turns around, unable to look at Hazel. Of course, her inner monologue would be wrong right now. Hazel is _Hazel_ and nothing else.

_They have a higher chance of tricking someone_ , the voice echoes in Piper's mind. She shakes her head, trying to rid the voice from her min—

“ _PIPER—_ ”

Piper slams to the ground, the oxygen leaving her lungs. Piper lets out a shrivelled gasp as her hands reach out for something in front of her.

She's trying to say something, but she's choking instead. The words come out in short incoherent sentences. Her hands reach for the thing blocking her and she finds a solid and furry object on top of her.

_I can't breath_ — _I'm gasping like I'm a fish that’s run out of water._ She's punching the solid object in front of her, unable to see since the neck of the creature is blocking her view.

" _Help,"_ Piper chokes out, her throat burning after she lets out the single word. Her hands go flying to her neck in return. Her vision is blurring as her airway clogs with liquid. She is faintly aware of the mud wetting her back, sticking her hair together.

Her mind is fuzzing as she begins to lose her sight. Instead, she moves her tongue over her mouth, tasting the metallic tint of blood.

_Hellhounds. That's what's on me_.

She's growing weaker as her vision is almost reduced to black dots. She brings her hands away from her neck, shocked by the liquid the greets her neck.

The Hellhound sliced its claws into her throat—and it managed to damage something.

_Why isn't anyone helping her? She's going to die—_

The world above the creature’s body explodes into light making Piper close her eyes. A moment later, the hellhound lets out a whimper as it explodes into dush.

Piper sucks in a gasp as her throat continues to burn, clogging her eyes with tears. The daughter of Aphrodite roles onto her side, no longer caring for the mud getting onto her face.

Piper's shivering as she takes in a shuddering gasp, her body quivering like a leaf. Oxygen sweeps its way into her lungs, making her lungs sing.

It doesn't stop the blood in her throat though.

Piper gets to her knees and places her hands around her throat. Her fingers find the horizontal slice marks from the hellhounds claws and shudders. Any deeper and she'd be dead... She keeps her hands on her wound, keeping blood from escaping.

She looks up at her rescuer and her eyes meet Ginny’s, who's eyes are wide. Her fingers are shaking around her wand, which points in Piper’s direction.

It takes a minute for it to click but it does, Piper nods to Ginny. _At least I know that Ginny has my back._

Piper takes a minute to regain herself, allowing herself to lean over the ground. She starts throwing up blood—some coming out in clots.

After a while, Piper staggers to her feet as her legs threaten to give out under her.

Piper takes the time to eye everyone else.

Reyna and Thalia are back to back, taking time to defend one another from oncoming attackers. Every time a hellhound gets too close to Reyna, Thalia sends a hellhound flying into the bushes. Reyna, on the other hand, casts fire burning spells, making the hounds go up in flames.

“What are these things?” Ginny calls out, spinning around a root to shoot a spell into a Hellhound. It’s promptly sent flying into the trees before disintegrating.

Piper opens her mouth to speak but finds her throat burning. The only thing that comes out is a choked garble of nothing. Luckily, Annabeth comes in to save her.

_I'll figure out what’s wrong with me later._

“Hellhounds, their native in America,” Annabeth replies, her voice strained. Ginny frowns and glances at Annabeth, whose ducking under a Hellhounds claw.

“They seem weird… I... They sound familiar—” Ginny ducks to avoid a hellhound. "—From the Greek myth stories my mother would tell me."

“Yeah,” Annabeth grunts, sidestepping another Hellhound. “Don't centaurs exist too?” Annabeth argues, flicking her wand at a hellhound.

The hellhound bursts into flames.

“You have a point,” Ginny says, eyes on Annabeth. A moment later, Ginny shoots a spell towards Annabeth. It hits a lunging Hellhound, causing vines to erupt from the ground and wrap around it. A moment later, the hellhound is completely cocooned in vines.

“That’s a new spell that I've been wanting to figure out,” Ginny offers, a grin on her face.

Thalia glances over, a wicked grin spreading on her face. It’s the look of, ‘ _if you weren’t a witch, I would try to recruit you to the Hunters of Artemis.’_

Piper sighs, which sounds odd to her ears, and turns her attention away from her thoughts. She taps her pocket and her fingers wrap around the indent of her wand. _At least I didn't lose it in the mud._

_Where's Hazel? She disappeared when the fighting started_ , the telltale voice in her head whispers.

Then, it's taunting voice echoes through her mind.

_They have a higher chance of killing someone._

_Never suspect the innocent._

Dread grows in Piper’s stomach as she looks around. A moment later, she feels blood climb in her throat once again, causing her breathing problems.

Groaning, Piper leans over and wrenches onto the ground. Blood instead of food comes flying out.

_I'm covered in mud and I'm shivering._

_I'm throwing up blood._

_I can't breathe._

_My neck_ _is sliced_ _with blood coming from it._

_I can't talk or I risk sounding unintelligent._

_Can it get worse?_

At the back of her mind, the voice sings out to her. _You want to deny it but you know it’s true._

_Hazel_

_cannot_

_be_

_trusted_ —

" _WATCH OUT!_ "

The voice echoes through the forest, full of panic.

_What would cause someone to shout so_ _powerfully_ _?_

Piper spins around, bringing her wand out from her pocket.

_Unless someone is about to die._

Piper ignores the blood building in her throat and opens her mouth to shout a spell.

_She thinks back to what she said._

There's a person in front of her, acting as a shield. Piper's eyes widen as a hellhound appears overhead of the person, silver claws shining.

_It can't get worse,_

It happens with an instant, too fast for Piper to map out. She knows how it ends up though.

_Can it_?

The Hellhound lands its mark, but not on Piper. It leaves a body mess though.

_What did I jinx myself into happening?_

She hears someone—she thinks it's Reyna's voice—whisper in a panic.

" _Hazel_?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> I enjoy feedback
> 
> 6300 words.... wow.
> 
> I just realized Piper McLean and Chris McLean from TDI share a last name....


	15. Chapter 14 - In which, Piper and Hazel have a coughing competition (Part III)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao, long time no see, eh? With a big cliffhanger at the end  
> I've been away because I've been focusing on school and I'm done my half-course, which was compacted so much that I have gotten six assignments due within a week.  
>  I got my mark back and I have a 94% :)
> 
> Warnings: Blood/gore

Reyna’s voice spurs Piper into action —though there isn’t much that Piper could do.

Unable to speak and accompanied by breathing problems is a disaster waiting to happen. With semi-deep cuts slicing through her neck in a zig-zag pattern, it looks like she tried to cut off her neck with sharp scissors. Which leads to the next problem. 

Every time she opens her mouth to rasp out a short sentence, blinding pain explodes from her throat and up to her jaw. Thinking of it now, she can’t even use her wand to cast spells, least of all  _ speak.  _

_ Ha! Unable to speak _ — _ if I stay this way, I won’t be able to use my demi-god abilities. Oh, the Irony.  _

She shakes the thought about remaining mute for the rest of her life away—she might be worrying over nothing. At the moment, she needs to focus on helping Hazel—wherever she is. 

Allowing her eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness and bright flashes of light, she stills for a split second. Her eyes glance at the ground a minute later, unsure if she’d be able to see anything because of the sun’s disappearance. Her eyes land on the silhouette of a shaking form laying on the ground by her feet and it takes a minute for Piper to recognize her.  _ Hazel, good, I found here. Now, where is that hellhound… _

She hears the leaves crunch which makes her head snap up, her dark eyes pinpointing to the sound. She sees something  _ big  _ and dog/wolf-like prowling around them. It’s almost impossible to see where it’s exact location is through the dark. Sure, there are the occasional bright eruptions of light. Alas, it only makes Piper go blind. 

Piper, with hesitance, brings out her wand as her knees bend, making her closer to the ground.  _ If Hazel can be behind me….  _ Piper raises her wand and aims for the hellhound she can’t make out. As her body gets closer to Hazel, she can make out the smell of blood piling near her.  _ It’s a goldmine to the monsters here.  _

Wrinkling her nose, she brings her sleeve up to cover the smell. Her eyes meet Hazel though Hazel’s eyes are wide and darting to something invisible to Piper.  _ I hope there’s no invisible monster around.  _ Taking a better look at Hazel, it takes a minute for her to realize that Hazel had stopped moving. 

Perhaps she realized she’s losing a large amount of blood. 

_ No.  _ Piper takes a minute to find the right word but she knows now that Hazel’s in  _ shock.  _

Piper shivers and brings her sleeve away from her nose since it’s become bothersome to try and breathe through her nose while somethings covering it. She can’t breathe through her mouth because it feels like the air going down her throat is helping the blood  _ in  _ her throat grow. If that makes sense, it doesn’t, but she can’t help but—

Piper sucks in a breath and shudders as pain echoes through her. If she keeps thinking about her neck wound and the blood resting around her throat, she’s going to go into shock. As if to steel herself, she tightens her muscles and draws in a  _ light  _ breath and lets out a smaller breath.  _ You need to get a hold of yourself.  _

She’s shaken from her thoughts when she hears a spell being said right over her head. Piper instinctively jerks to the side and glances at the noise. Behind her, Ginny has her arm outstretched, her wand at the tip of her fingers. The Hellhound stops mid-prowl and raises its snout towards Ginny.

For a moment, Piper wonders if Ginny messed up her spell. Then, her hair smacks into her face as the wind starts picking up its speed. Shivering at the coldness of the wind, she draws herself closer to Hazel. Leafs fly into her vision as her hair becomes a nest of them. 

Glancing up, she sees the trees curving as their branches threaten to fly off. Even with the dark, she was able to make out Hazel’s prone form. Now, with everything flying, she’s barely able to pick out Hazel from the fallen branches and whatnot. 

The wind starts to move in a circle as it directs its movement towards the Hellhounds. The Hellhounds in question are backing up, fear in their eyes. They’re too late though, the tornado-like-wind is already making its way towards them. 

Wait. 

_ That means it’s also heading towards me.  _

She flings herself to Hazel, her fingers wrapping around her forearm. Hazel snaps out of whatever she was in and meets Piper's gaze. Piper ducks her head down and envelopes Hazel into a makeshift hug, only without any skin-to-skin contact. 

The smell of blood almost knocks her out too.

  
  


It’s like being inside a tornado—wind slapping in her face, swirling around her. Sometimes, Piper has to duck to avoid being hit with a tree branch. She’s surprised that  _ she  _ hadn’t been picked up by the wind and been carried away. 

Her cloak snaps at the back of her head as the wind slams into her back, causing her hair to come flying free from her braid. It's the least of worries though because she’s sent into Hazel and winces as something wet dampens her robes. In response, Hazel lets out a choked groan. 

  
  


Piper grits her teeth to stop herself from apologizing out loud. The least Hazel would want is her doubling over in pain over her. Piper gets up on her elbows, allowing Hazel to breathe. Piper takes the minute to let out a breath and recollect herself over the whistling wind around her. 

“Haze’ ?” Piper chokes out as something liquid starts pooling at the bottom of her throat. One of Piper’s hands reaches up to grasp to the top of her throat, where a wall of fire starts burning. With a groan, Piper’s other hand reaches out for something to grasp onto. Unluckily for her, the vibration from her groan goes through her throat, setting off the fire. Piper would have wrenched over if it wasn’t for the fact that she’s already leaning over Hazel. 

Speaking of her...

Her fingers wrap around Hazel’s forearm like a vice as the fire grows again, causing her to start coughing.

She ignores it to the best of her ability. 

Cancelling out the wind above her, Piper takes the time to inspect Hazel’s wound. She breathes a sigh of relief when her eyes meet Hazel’s. Hazel’s—bloody—arm reaches up to touch Piper’s neck. Piper sucks in a breath and Hazel's blood ridden fingers touch the cuts appearing on Piper’s beck. 

A weight settles wherever Hazel touches and Piper flinches away from her delicate fingers as pain returns at the movement. 

“Sorry,” Hazel wheezes. 

Piper purses her lips, stopping her from saying,  _ you shouldn’t have said sorry.  _

“You can’t speak, can you?” Hazel says again, her voice coming out strained. Hazel’s fingers return to her stomach where three large—and deep—gashes reside. Piper winces as the blood rushes out of Hazel’s wounds when Hazel places her fingers.

Her blood-stained uniform had become a pool of blood, attracting the hellhounds nearby. 

Hazel doesn’t seem to notice her dilemma, instead, her eyes are narrowing towards Piper.

“Here—” Hazel says, bringing Piper from her thoughts. Her gaze snaps to Hazel’s face, whose brows are pinned up in focus. Hazel gives a slight jump when Hazel’s fingers brush against Piper’s forearms. Piper glances back to Hazel, lifting her eyebrows in confusion. 

“Spell out the words you want to say only with my arm. I think I can translate them enough if,” Hazel says. Then, Hazel’s body twitches and she starts coughing, her free arm reaching up to wipe at her mouth, where blood drips. 

_ It must be bad if the blood is getting into her lungs. How deep is the cut?  _

Hesitantly, Piper brings her fingers to rest on Hazel's forearm, her eyes glancing down to the roman tattoo. She doesn’t give it any thought as she thinks of a sentence to say.

After translating the words she needs to convey into Latin, she traces the words onto Hazel’s arm. 

“ **_W-H-Y D-I-D Y-O-U R-U-N I-N F-R-O-N-T O-F M-E?”_ **

She put the question mark at the end to emphasize her question. 

Hazel blinks for a minute and Piper wonders if she had written the wrong words down. Then, rather alarmingly, Hazel’s body slackens. Piper jolts forward, bringing her hands up to shake Hazel’s shoulders. She does so as gently as possible, wary of blood spilling from her wounds.

Hazel begins coughing vigorously before wrapping her fingers around Piper’s arm, digging her nails into Piper’s biceps. Piper bites her lip to stop from gasping out in pain. Hazel doesn’t seem to notice, instead, she takes a deep breath, continuing as if she didn’t almost pass out. 

“A—I ran in front of you…”  _ cough,  _ “because I felt…” Hazel trails off. Her eyes linger over Piper’s shoulder, where the storm is raging out. Whatever Ginny did, it’s causing a lot of damage. By the way the hellhounds are scrambling to keep away from the mini-tornado, her spell seems to be working. 

“I’m unsure of what to tell you,” Hazel wheezes out, a hint of guilt in her voice. 

Piper traces a question mark on Hazel’s arm, confusion laced through her mind. She doesn’t allow the pesky voice in her head to barge through and starts creating doubt in her friends. 

“I, um. Back when we were going shopping I, er, accidentally gave away that we knew that the cult is rising and stuff..” 

Piper must have shown the questioning glance on her face because Hazel continues after coughing. 

“He cornered me—I told him ‘so you’re a part of that cult’ and sort of teleported away after. I—I’m sorry Piper.”

Piper frowns, her mind racing. It gives the voice a chance to step in.  _ See, I told you the innocent wo _ —

_ Not right now.  _ She needs to remember what Annabeth said.  _ Worry about the elephant in the room.  _

Below her, Hazel coughs again, drawing Piper back to Hazel. “Jason—they wouldn’t have kidnapped him and stuff if they didn’t know—” 

Piper raises her hand, cutting Hazel off. Piper’s fingers go back to Hazel’s wrist as blood starts rising in her throat again. 

“ **_N-O-T Y-O-U-R F-A-U-L-T,”_ ** Piper traces out, translating them for Hazel. Hazel gives her a weak laugh and says, “I don’t know if that’s true or not, but, I know it is. They’ll focus on us more now that we know. Try to kidnap us now.”

“ **_Y-O-U D-O-N’T K-N-O-W T-H-A-T”_ **

Hazel gives her a sad look and Piper groans and shakes her head. She opens her mouth to retort when pain blooms in her throat as liquid builds its way up into her mouth. Hazel lets out an alarmed squeak as Piper wrenches over her limp form, coughing out blood. 

After a minute of stillness, Piper props back up on her elbows and wipes her mouth with her sleeve. “I guess we both have throwing up blood problems,” Piper jokes, which is in a rasped incoherent sentence. It doesn’t sound like anything, much less a joke.

Hazel does  _ not  _ look happy with her, as if speaking was against the rules. Piper isn’t happy either when her throat starts to burn again, blood and heat rising in her lower throat. She flings her hand to her neck as if putting pressure on the pain will stop it. 

She flinches  _ hard  _ when her nails dig into the gashes on her neck, which causes her wounds to open up after the current process of healing. Piper whimpers and ducks her head, careful to avoid Hazel’s chest. 

“Don’t speak, it can make it worse,” Hazel wheezes out. 

Piper raises a free hand to cross her fingers in front of Hazel. 

It takes a minute to realize that the wind has died down, replaced by new sounds of ‘ _ there’s too many’  _ and ‘ _ where’s Hazel and Piper?’ _

Piper glances to Hazel who says, “I’ve never tried it before—but I think I can shadow travel us as Nico does.” Piper starts shaking her head when Hazel touches her arm tentatively. With a  _ please  _ look, Hazel says, “right to the infirmary. I—” 

She starts shaking and Piper closes her eyes, her fingers grasping onto Hazel’s. 

Behind them, Reyna is shouting something that Piper can’t hear. 

Then—

Shadows burst into the forest, sending Hellhounds flying into the air. Piper lets out an audible gasp as she sees Hellhounds retreat into the forest, eager to escape the shadows. Shadows bound around, wrapping around Piper’s body and moving on—as if she wasn’t worth their time. 

Her gaze moves to Hazel, where the shadows have latched onto her and remain unmoving. 

_ What’s happening?  _

Then, a hand reaches onto her shoulder, making Piper jump. Glancing up, she sees a tan and freckled face come into view. For a fleeting moment, Piper thought that Apollo came to visit. She wouldn’t be surprised either.  _ One for dramatics.  _

It takes a minute for Piper to realize who it was and when she did, she nearly facepalms. Of course, Nico could sense Hazel dying...

Will reaches down, gently tapping Piper to move out of the way. It spurs Piper from her thoughts, causing Piper to shift around until there’s an opening for the healer. Will takes the spot immediately, his eyes drifting over Hazel’s body—analyzing the wounds. 

His hands go to Hazel’s stomach and chest area, his fingers tracing the three gashes. Will sucks in a breath and curses, making Hazel flinch. Which probably isn’t the best thing to do when you're a healer and trying to heal your patient. 

“What is it?” Hazel breathes out, her breath growing heavy. 

“Internal bleeding. I can heal the outside wounds but the damage done to your lungs has to be healed with time…” Will explains, a frown appearing on his face. 

Somewhere behind them, Piper hears Ginny gasp and stumble back. She glances behind her, spotting Ginny glancing and walking away from the shadows.  _ Shadows…. Nico’s here and is most likely pissed off.  _

“I can’t give her ambrosia with a witch nearby,” Will hisses, “or my magic.” Piper glances back to Will, noticing the panic in his face. “Can’t you do your Apollo kid magic?” Piper hisses back, causing Will to glance at her with a  _ look.  _

“What—” Piper starts choking again and can practically feel the wounds on her neck re-open. Piper bends over, her hands once again reaching for her neck. 

“Piper?” Will’s exclaims, eyes widening. “Shit, you're throwing up a lot of blood,” Will hisses and Piper blinks.  _ I’m throwing up blood?  _

_ No _ — _ I can’t feel it though. _

_ Maybe I should have resorted to staying quiet. _

Piper’s finger reaches up to touch her chin, where blood is dribbling down. Pushing her sleeve up, she wipes her blood onto it.  _ No more talking for me.  _

“Eat this,” Will says, poking her light enough for Piper to not flinch. Piper glances at Will, who has a hand full of ambrosia tucked in his lap—careful to avoid Ginny’s notice. It  _ would _ seem weird to see someone eat a block of gold and for the person to start healing.  _ She’s already freaked out by the appearance of violent shadows.  _

_ Then again,  _ Piper thinks,  _ who suspects a tree to use its branches to swat at people? _

Piper, with a bloody hand from grabbing her neck, takes the ambrosia. 

Like a pig, she swallows the ambrosia in one gulp. Piper winces as it goes down her throat, pushing against her wounds. 

Turning to Will, she notices that he had abandoned the ambrosia in favour of chanting a hymn to Apollo. Apparently, he had taken Piper’s advice to heart. 

Piper’s eyes meet Hazel’s, whose eyes are shining. She moves her gaze downward to where her wounds are healing on her chest. It’s not enough to fully heal her—Will’s already turning white—but it’s enough to stop the bleeding.  _ And to stop the infection. _

Piper lets out a breath of air as the blood stops gushing from the gashes on Hazel’s chest. Hazel lets out a long sigh and proceeds to cough a minute later. 

“It’s a relief that your magic works,” Hazel breathes out. 

“Yeah, well,” Will says, his voice coming out strained. “Madame Pomfrey cornered me earlier…” Will’s hands grip Hazel’s bloody shirt. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath as his face flushes. He takes a deep breath as he curls his fingers from Hazel’s bloodsoaked shirt. 

At the back of her mind, Piper notices that blood is no longer building up in her throat. Alas, the wounds on her neck remained. Piper frowns,  _ it must need time to heal then… _

“She told me to, er, that magic is different here. That I should have something that might boost my magic…” 

“Like an amplifier?” Hazel inquires, her words coming out in short breaths. 

“Sorta….she said that ever since people started going missing back in August, that her magic was harder to summon.” 

Not trusting herself to speak, Piper taps Will’s shoulder, who glances up at her. Taking his forearm, Piper traces the words, 

“ **_S-H-E-'S A D-E-M-I-G-O-D?”_ **

Will nods and says, “you should keep yourself from talking. It’s going to take longer for your throat to heal and the vibrations from talking might reopen your wounds.” 

_ Great. Just what I need.  _

Behind them, a burst of light makes Piper turn around. She spots Ginny with her wand up, turning a hellhound into a chicken. It proceeds to squawk and run off into the forest with speed Piper didn’t know chickens possess. 

“There’s too many of them,” Ginny says, eyes darting around her, to the packs of hellhounds continuing to appear then to the shadows lurking. 

“Where are they even coming from?” Rachel inquires, using her wand to cast protection spells around people. Her voice comes to Piper’s right—startling her since she had come from the shadows. Everyone seems to be missing—the shadows covering them. 

Yet, there are too many hellhounds. 

_ If it weren’t for the fact that the gods don’t know that wizards exist, it would be perfect timing for them to waltz in here.  _

“I can shado—” Annabeth cuts Nico off by saying, “Nico knows a weak spot in the wards of Hogwarts. He can appariate us through.” It takes a minute for Piper to realize Annabeth was saving Nico from saying ‘shadow travel’ in front of Ginny. 

Nico scowls at her. 

Ginny frowns and says, “how—?” 

Reyna interrupts, saying, “everyone holds on to one another.” 

As Piper goes to grasp Will’s arm, Will inhales deeply and Piper finally notices how white Will is.  _ He’s almost as white as Nico.  _

“What—Are you going to pass out?” Hazel inquires, trying to drag herself onto her elbows. 

She’s definitely getting better if talking in full sentences without a break. 

“I—” Will stutters and shakes his head instead. 

“What?” 

“I used a lot of my magic, even though I healed worse. Hell, I reattached people’s limbs before—” He trails off as his voice becomes more of a breath than anything else. 

With alarm bells raising in Piper, Will’s body starts to slacken. “Will!” Hazel gets out, making everyone’s attentions turn to them. 

A moment later, Will’s on the ground, his body landing on the grass with a loud  _ thud.  _

“ _ Will _ ?” Nico inquires, his voice having a hint of panic in it. Piper snaps her head towards the voice, finding Nico heading towards him. 

“What happened? He’s turned white,” Ginny says. 

“He overused his powers,” Hazel says, her hands coming over to touch Will’s forearm. “His heartbeat is normal though,” Hazel adds again. “Doing what?” Ginny inquires, growing closer to the girls. 

“Healing me.”

Nico’s feet stop right in front of Will's golden hair, his hands shaking. Piper suspects it’s from the overuse of magic.  _ Or from the fear for Will.  _

If Will had trouble using his magic—Nico’s magic must have been gruelling to use. 

Glancing at Hazel and the wounds on her chest, Piper realized that Nico must’ve felt Hazel dying. It would be a great motivation to use his magic. Turning back to Nico, his skin is whiter than usual and his body seems to be shaken—not just his hands. 

“Grab on,” Nico grits out, “I can only make one trip.” 

“It looks like you won’t even manage one,” Thalia says, acknowledging how bad Nico’s shaking. 

“I’m fine,” Nico defends. 

Thalia narrows her gaze to him. 

With a wary glance to Nico, Piper grasps his wrist, making sure to be gentle. Nico takes his hand and wraps his fingers around Will’s forearm. Hazel follows by taking a tighter grip onto Will and soon, everyone is following suit. 

Ginny gives the gathering group an apprehensive look and walks forward, throwing a protection spell around them. Ginny bends down and takes the open hand of Reyna. “Be prepared,” Nico warns. 

This time, Piper makes sure she’s closing her eyes. 

  
  


When the shadows disappear from Piper’s vision, bright light explodes into her vision. Piper raises her arm, shaking off Annabeth’s hand, and raises it to cover her eyes. Footsteps click around her and Piper has a feeling that people are rushing towards her. 

Where did Nico shadow travel them? Hopefully nowhere crowded. It would make for an awkward situation. 

“What happened?” Came Percy’s familiar voice which is nearby. It causes Piper to jump and unshielded her eyes—taking in the room around her. The first thing she sees is Percy’s healed face come into view, his hand reaching down to grasp onto Annabeth. 

Piper takes the minute to glance across the room, noticing Harry and Ron across the room, hesitantly making their way towards them. Then, they seem to spot Ginny over the pile of girls and they both rush towards her. 

Piper takes in the bright and whitish room, the cotts that line the walls, and the healing equipment and herbs.  _ He shadowed travelled us into the hospital wing.  _

“You don’t have Jason,” Percy acknowledges after a minute, his body crouched down to sit beside Annabeth. 

“We found the spot where he would have been and he’s not there. We followed him and we were ambushed by a bunch of hellhounds,” Annabeth responds. 

“Blimey, mate,” came Ron’s voice as he neared the group. “You guys look like death.” 

Harry, on the other hand, questions, “hellhound?” 

“Guys,” Thalia interrupts. “Hazel and Piper are bleeding. Will’s past out and Nico’s looks ready to fall over. We’re crowding everyone.” 

“Yes, break it up,” came a new voice, making Piper glance upward from her seat on the ground. Madame Pomfrey, the healer, is walking towards them with thin lips. “Those of you who aren’t hurt should leave and go to Headmistress McGonagall. Those of you who are—stay here.” 

“But—” Annabeth starts. 

The healer puts up a finger to silence Annabeth. “Do I make myself clear?”   
  


Annabeth opens her mouth again but closes it when she receives a glance from the healer. 

“Alright,” Annabeth grumbles and stands with Percy’s help. 

The last person to leave is Ginny, who gives the room an apprehensive look before closing the doors. 

“So…” Harry says. “What are hellhounds and what were those birds and why haven't we seen them before?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter and sorta unrevised chapter.


	16. Chapter 15 - Talking Astrology Horse vs Woman with spiritual ancestry background

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates may be longer because of school. 
> 
> Also, A shorter chapter for right now (or a mid-in between chapter?)

The only light inside the room is the faint glow of candles. Of course, the darkness of the night outside doesn’t help. Inside the room, a large oak table takes up most of the room. At the moment, only one chair is in use. 

The Headmistress waits at the head of the table,  waiting  for the Professors to arrive. It’s a big castle, the headmistress knows and doesn’t blame anyone if they’re late. 

The first person to arrive is Professor Sinistra and Professor Niles. Both are early by three minutes but none of them seem aware of the fact. The two of them are side by side, clocks flying behind them when they enter. The two women nod to Headmistress McGonagall as they take their seats to the left of her. 

The third and person to arrive is Professor Slughorn, who takes his grand time making it to his seat. Trailing behind the potions master is Professor Sprout.  For someone whose office is halfway across the hallway, she managed to reach the location in record timing . 

A couple of minutes go by. 

Professor McGonagall purses her lips and waits. 

Professor Binns is next, exactly on the dot, and the Headmistress doesn’t bother raising a brow. He may have floated through the walls to get here, most likely startling some students. It's not every day that one sees the History Professor leave his class. 

McGonagall has a sneaking suspicion that it has to do with Binns not liking the other ghost. She knows the feeling would be mutual too. 

Five minutes passed.

McGonagall resorts to tapping her foot, listening to the Professor's chatter. She knows that it would make it harder for some Professors to reach their location, such as Trelawney. 

Their staff room is on the ground floor, courtesy of a Professor—Firenze—who’s unable to walk upstairs. 

It takes a minute, but the Headmistress can hear the faint clicking of hooves against the stone floor. She pinches the bridge of her nose and mentally prepares herself for later.

It’s not like she has something  against  centaurs, it’s that she doesn’t believe in  Seers. Yet, here she is, allowing  two  Divination Professor teach at Hogwarts. One of which is a centaur who uses the constellations as a source of the future. 

When Professors ask her what source of Divination she's more likely to believe in, she doesn't give an offer . One of the reasons is because she knows that there would be war. 

Something snaps her back to reality. 

She can also hear the faint movement of something rolling across the ground—Chiron, no doubt. It seems the two of them had met at the bottom floor and decided to chat. It wouldn’t surprise the Headmistress if Firenze had cornered the poor Centaur-in-hiding. 

It seems her assumption was right when the two of them barge into the Staffroom. With the bang reverberating off the walls, the two of them break off and find their seats. The closest Professors jump out of their skin as the noise echoes throughout the room. 

Neither centaurs notice. 

Chiron wheels his way to the seat next to the Headmistress and nudges the chair aside. The Headmistress quirks her brows up and says, “you can always transform into a centaur, Chiron. No student will see you here.” 

Chiron glances at the Headmistress for a minute, eyes twinkling. He says, “I can, but I find it quite a hustle to transition between the two forms.” 

The Headmistress opens her mouth to reply with the next couple of Professors walk in. One of them is talking about nonsense, she can sense it. The Headmistress pinches the bridge of her nose when she recognizes the source of the noise.

In walks Professor Trelawney, Professor Vector, and Madam Hooch. The latter of the three Professors, looking rather concerned about the divination Professor. The Headmistress knows better than to get into a fight with Trelawney now.  Though McGonagall can be stubborn, she’d rather not end up with an emotional Trelawney spilling ‘foresight’ about the future . All her predictions seem more gruesome the more upset she becomes. 

She can’t but think about the one time,  a long time ago it seems,  that Trelawney hadn’t wanted to join the Staff for Christmas dinner . McGonagall had rather  been annoyed as Trelawney had said that in a group of 13, the first one to raise will die. She hadn’t thought about it before, but she realizes now that Ron had carried Peter Pettigrew in the form of a rat. It counted as thirteen. 

The first one to raise from their seats— subsequently , the one to greet the divination Professor—was Professor Dumbledore .  He was the first to die. 

It’s a coincidence at best. 

The Headmistress goes back to the present and shakes her head away from the thought. In front of her, Professor Trelawney tenses when her eyes land on Firenze. The two Divination Professors make eye contact with one another, Firenze's eyes narrowing.

McGonagall can almost sense the headache coming. 

Whatever the case, McGonagall would rather not have an argument right now. She suspects that the two would take their seats and start glaring at one another. 

Instead of doing that, Trelawney turns away and takes a close seat to the Headmistress. The Headmistress quirks her brows up, wondering what the Professor is planning.

She tries not to think about it.  Perhaps she wanted to strike up a conversation with Chiron, a famed centaur from Greek Myths. Chiron didn't seem keen on talking to anyone though. 

Professor Trelawney doesn't seem like talking either, as if doing so would make her mood worse. 

She would have to question Professor Trelawney later about this. 

The next, and final Professor, to come in was Hagrid, three minutes late. The Care of Magical Creatures Professor quirks a brow when he sees most of the seats taken.

With a sigh, Hagrid says, “I Hope yeh haven' started without me. I Hope ey haven't missed anythin important.” 

“We’re waiting for Madam Pomfrey to give us a report, so you arrived on time it seems,” the Headmistress assures. 

In the back of her mind, she counts the people sitting around the table. Does Firenze count as sitting? Does  Binns  count? The Headmistress isn’t certain.

Hagrid sighs and takes the seat beside Professor Binns, who shifts to make room. The Headmistress doesn’t know why, since Hagrid would go straight through him anyway. As he takes his seat, Hagrid says, “Guess tha' good.” 

The talking begins anew and, together, they wait for Madam Pomfrey’s arrival. 

It doesn’t take long. After two or three minutes, the Headmistress can make out the clicking of heels. The chatter makes it impossible to hear where the sound is coming from, though. 

Then, the doors leading to the room burst open. The sound reverberates through the stones of the room, silencing the voices in the room. All heads turn towards the person entering the room, eyes curious. The Headmistress tenses when she sees Madam Pomfrey enter, her face a mix of emotions. 

In a flurry, cheeks puffed and red, Madam Pomfrey comes to stand in front of the table. 

“They returned,” Madam Pomfrey says after a minute, sounding like she ran the whole castle. 

The Headmistress brows raise as a collective group of sighs fill the room. To this, Chiron looks half offended, as if thinking,  I taught them! I know they would make it back. 

Unlike the past Headmaster—Dumbledore—who kept what he did secret, McGonagall's different. She preferred to hear the advice of her colleagues before finalizing a decision. She knows as her time as Professor, she didn't like it when Dumbledore hid stuff from her. She feels as though the feeling was mutual with the other Professors. She wouldn't blame them either. 

The Headmistress has found that with the help of other Professors, that she’s able to keep her students safe. The past couple of weeks have been tough with the constant letters from worried parents. It's worse when an alleged cult is running around, kidnapping people. She only hopes the media and the people think it's rogue death eaters, and not something else. 

“Is ev'ryone okay?” Hagrid inquires from where he sits, the first one to speak as he directs his question to the Healer. Madam Pomfrey pauses for a minute, eyeing the Professors with a wary glance. A breath escapes her as reaches for the nearest seat. With a glance at everyone, she scrapes her chair back and takes a seat. 

“ Mostly everyone,” Madam Pomfrey concedes. “None of the students,  thankfully . It's two demigods who  are hurt . Well, Harry and Ron  are scratched up, but that's expected,” she adds. 

Of course, no one jumps or frowns at the word of 'demi-gods.' 

Madam Pomfrey herself is the daughter of Apollo. Her mother, a witch, had caught the sun God's attention when he had done his world tour. She’d never been to Camp Half-Blood, instead, she stayed in Britain where there were little to no monsters. Well, of the greek kind. 

McGonagall thinks that Madam Pomfrey always wanted to visit America. To visit Camp Half-Blood and meet people like her. To learn more about the gods. 

Alas, she stayed. 

“The future  is fixated on one path now and it would be hard to change it,” Professor Trelawney says, breath shaky. It snaps the Headmistress from her thoughts and she raises her brows. 

Then, there was Trelawney. Her great-great-grandmother, Cassandra, had been a child of Apollo, blessed with foresight.  The Headmistress doubts that Sybill Trelawney managed to get  any  prophetic powers from her . 

If there was, it wasn't shining through. 

The Headmistress can almost see Firenze’s eyes narrow towards the other divination Professor . For a minute, the Headmistress wonders if there was going to be an argument between the two of them. Alas, her fears  were unfounded when Firenze started speaking. 

“The stars have shifted into a pattern tonight. Abrupt but forceful, I add. Whatever happened will affect the outcome of the future,” Firenze says. 

The centaur didn’t outright say it, but he had ( reluctantly ) agreed with Trelawney. In return, Professor Trelawney frowns and opens her mouth to speak. As if to say,  that's what I said but with more words. 

“And what are the injuries?” McGonagall interjects before Trelawney could sprout nonsense while mentioning Firenze's death. If that happens, she knows it'll be a war ground. 

Madam Pomfrey clasps her hands together.  She says, “Hazel Levesque has managed to get some major chest injuries but Will Solace managed to stop the bleeding . Piper McLean had managed to have her vocal cords sliced open.” 

She hesitates for a minute. 

“From what I can tell, it’d be at least eight months until she heals completely. That is, if she doesn’t try to talk for a long period of time or yell.” 

“And what could have caused such injuries?” Professor Vector inquires. 

Madam Pomfrey takes a moment to answer. 

“Hellhounds.” 

The room explodes into noise and as it continues on, the Headmistress pinches the bridge of her nose. “Can we all quiet down?” The Headmistress inquires, causing everyone in the room to glance at her. There were a few mutters before complete silence. 

“How did they managed to get here?” Madam Hooch inquires.  To Britain of all places. 

“It's easy to guess,” Chiron says, who had been  eerily quiet for the meeting. A couple of Professors raise their brows in confusion as some others shake their head. 

“The same way I managed to bring the demi-gods along. The cult managed to apparate groups of monsters—or they used a portkey to get here.” 

A mutter burst within the small group. 

“Sources say that they already have  hundreds  amongst their group. It’s like a compacted civilization!” Professor Flitwick says. 

“We don' need any more monsters messin’ up this forest. It isn' good fer the native creatures,” Hagrid says from one side of the table. 

“Can I quit? I liked it better when I was alone,” Professor Slughorn says. 

“Whose going to stop these monsters from attacking our students?” Madam Hooch inquires. 

The Headmistress clangs her drink against the table. “Enough! We cannot figure anything out if we’re running around like beheaded pigs!” 

All eyes turn to her as the Headmistress glances over everyone. Turning her gaze back to Madam Pomfrey, McGonagall inquires, “what of Ginny Weasley?” 

Madam Pomfrey stops for a minute, lost in her tracks before sputtering out, “she saw the hellhounds and she’s skeptical of t hings . The demi-gods weren’t as secretive as we had hoped. Nico Di Angelo had used his shadows and shadow travel in front of her. As well as Will Solace passing out from the use of his healing magic. We will have to tell the demi-gods to tread  lightly .”

The code of conduct. Do not let any wizard or witch find out about demi-gods and the existence of Greek Gods. It’ll be in the hands of the Daily Prophet in no time. Soon, everyone will know about the gods' existence, then all Hades will break loose. 

“We can always obliviate her,” Professor Slughorn says. 

Professor Niles scowls at him and says, “we will do no such thing! We cannot  just obliviate a  student  of all people!” 

“And,” Madam Hooch adds, “her brother and friends will ask about what happened. It would be unwise to do such a thing.” 

“They’ll find out  eventually ,” Professor Trelawney says, a wistful tone in her voice. Her mind seems elsewhere—as if there is a more pressing situation going on in her head. 

The Headmistress doesn’t comment on it. Instead, she turns and says, “we won’t be obliviating anyone. We  just need to warn the demi-gods to be more careful.” 

“And what of protecting the school?” Professor Sinistra questions. “How do we know that our students are safe?” 

“I will make an application for Aurors in the school to the ministry. I already have wards up against them, “ Headmistress McGonagall explains. Professor Sinistra stands from her chair. Professor Trelawney winces as the noise reverberates across the stone. 

“ Obviously it hadn’t worked since someone managed to get one of our students,” Sinistra snaps. 

The Headmistress takes a sip of her drink, ignoring her tone. Instead, she says, “I talked with Sir Headless Nick and it seems as though he was under an imperious curse.” 

“The boy wouldn’t have time to go outside of Hogwarts without a Professor noticing,” Professor Vector says . 

“That is why  I believe that there is a spy among us,” the Headmistress says. “Either as a Professor or as a Student. I plan on finding out who it is.” 

Everyone shares a look, one of suspicion. 

“We do not have time for suspicion though,” Headmistress McGonagall says, noticing the glances . “We can worry about this when we have more information.” 

No one seems happy, so the Headmistress moves on to the next subject before any chaos could erupt. “The Prophecy that Rachel Dare had said has two new lines to it…” she begins. 

“For it wears the face of the one you greet, and for your friends, you shouldn’t neglect,” Professor Trelawney finishes . She glances around the room, taking in everyone's reaction. 

“This doesn’t give anything we don’t already know,” Professor Vector points out. 

“Something is going to happen to one of their friends and the cause of it is going to be because someone is ignoring the other person,” Professor Binns says . 

“Well, yes, you  just made the prophecy line longer,” Madam Pomfrey says. 

The ghost doesn’t respond, electing to ignore her comment. 

“ I think we should focus on the fact that if Jason  does  return, we need to keep an eye on them,” Chiron says. It's his first sentence this meeting and Trelawney  nearly jumps when she hears his voice.

The centaur,  on the other hand , has his eyes dancing across the room filled with Professors. 

“You think they would cast an imperious charm on him?” Professor Slughorn inquires. 

“They were after him—the demigods,” Madam Hooch responds. “They  purposefully lured the demigods outside Hogwarts grounds to capture one of them. That way, the other demigods would come to them like it was an open invitation.” 

“They were planning to get rid of them in one hit—or have a bargaining chip in case they tried everything,” Professor Nile says, catching on . 

“If he returns, he may not be himself. He might try to convince some of the demi-gods to come with him into the forest,” the Headmistress says. 

“We know what it looks like with an imperious charm—”

“But we know that the cult  involves  the more  godly side of things,” Madam Pomfrey interrupts. 

“They have mind control powers?” Professor Vector questions, brows raising. 

Chiron nods and says, “Piper McLean has the power to convince people to do her bidding with the power of  Charm Speak.” 

“And the leader of this cult may have power similar to such..?” 

Chiron nods and says, “ I believe we may be dealing with someone very powerful. If not a demi-god, then a descendant of one—a powerful god, that is.” 

Professor Niles chugs down her drink, slams it on the table and says, “we’re screwed.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know anymore


	17. Chapter 16 -  There's nothing like becoming dinner for some Cannibalistic Birds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to add publish this oop-
> 
> Also, this is half re-edited so goodluck.

** Seventh Day at Hogwarts **

The morning flew by in a glance and if Harry had closed his eyes, he thought he would miss the whole day. After yesterday, today seems like a dream.

There was a tower of homework waiting for the two boys when they returned from the hospital wing the day before. Too tired to do the work, the boys collapsed into bed to leave in the morning.

After going through the library and the common room with no luck of studying, Hermione suggested doing it outside. That way, the ' _ fresh air _ ' will settle their minds.

Now, sitting outside, underneath the protection of leaves and branches, Ron lets out a sigh. Harry startles at the noise, his book falling from his lap, and glances to the redhead beside him. “You’d think the Professors would go easy on us once they knew we were near death,” Ron sighs. In front of him, his book lays thrown open, with the title ' _ History of the first Wizards and Witches _ .'

Hermione frowns from beside Ron, her head leaning against the trunk of the tree. Unlike the boys below her, Hermione had finished her homework during the weekend. Ron had grumbled the unfairness, saying that ' _ I wouldn't have stayed in the hospital wing if I had to do this.' _

"You know that the Defence against the Dark Arts quiz is tomorrow, right?

Ron shrugs in response.

Harry, on the opposite side of Ron, raises his brows but doesn’t say anything. Instead, his eyes drifted to the lake nearby, watching some first years stick their legs into the cool water. Harry doesn’t blame them either—it  _ is _ a scorching hot day. In fact, Harry had undone his cloak and robes, leaving only his uniform on him. Even then, fire prickled under his skin, sweat rolling under his clothes.

Bringing his hand up to shift his collar into a comfortable position, he closes his eyes. Perhaps if he tunes everything out, he'll be able to fall asleep and bring himself away from the hotness. His chance to do so cuts short when Hermione starts speaking. Lifting his head, Harry glances at Hermione as she says something to Ron, half exasperated. “Well maybe if you guys didn’t run into the forbidden forest, then you guys wouldn’t have a problem.”

Ron scoffs and says, “what are we supposed to do—let him be captured?”

Hermione raises her brows and shakes her head. "Well, it looks like it didn’t go according to plan since you ended up in the Hospital Wing with two missing people.”

Ron’s brows furrow and Harry knows what argument is going to follow. As much as he loves the two of them arguing with one another, he has other things to do. He’s done his homework, no thanks to Hermione staring down both boy’s necks.

At the back of his mind, he hears Ron and Hermione arguing, causing Harry to frown.

“But if we didn’t go in there, we wouldn’t find out some of the important things!” Ron replies. Hermione’s brows raise like,  _ uh-huh. What important thing did you find out? _

Ron seems to get the same thought as Harry.

“The birds,” Ron says. 

“The birds?” Hermione questions, brows raising. 

Ron nods as if it solved everything.

Harry closes his eyes and leans his head back against the branch, the bark rough and dirty against his hair and skin. His fingers trail the edge of his collar, pulling at it uselessly.  _ Why is it so hot? Why are Hermione and Ron arguing? _

Sighing, he thinks back to yesterday. Hopefully, that'll drain out the noise.  _ God, that was yesterday? It felt like a century ago.  _

He remembers the birds, remembers the look on Jason’s face as he seemed to recognize what the birds were.  _ I’ve fought you before. _

The back of his mind, the rational side, thinks the birds must be native to North America—but how did they get here? 

He should have taken Care of Magical Creatures when he got his chance. He closes his eyes, closing off the sound.

He remembers back to yesterday—and the bloodthirsty look in those bird’s eyes. How they didn't back down when one of them was hurt. When Harry’s magic  _ did  _ work on the birds, the birds would recover within a minute. 

_ They’re stumbling through the forbidden forest, the woods uncharacteristically quiet. Harry’s suppressing a shiver as the fog around them draws closer. “What if he’s leading us into a trap?” Ron’s voice rings in his mind. He had asked Harry the question a couple of minutes earlier when they were being led further into the forest. _

__

__

_ Harry had shaken his head and said, “I don’t think they would do that.” Ron hadn’t look reassured but it seemed to calm the redhead enough to turn around and keep walking. _

_ Percy had thrown Harry a glance, his eyes glancing between the two wizards. It wasn’t a suspicious one, so Harry didn’t feel like coming up with a good enough excuse. “Ron’s afraid that we’d run into spiders,” Harry says. _

_ Percy raises his brows and begins to speak when he heard a scuffle up ahead. The two boys switch their attention to the people in front of them, where Jason had stumbled back into Ron. _

_ “What—” Rons complaint cuts off when a bird with a silvery beak and black eyes flies from the trees, blood shining on its beak. Ron stumbles back as Percy’s hand goes to his waist. Harry doesn’t miss the confusion on his face when he realized what he was searching for wasn’t there. _

_ The crow-like bird laughs above them, a mock to its tune. Harry’s head spills with information about magical creatures from his time with Hagrid. Alas, his knowledge seems to fail him when he comes up dry without anything about the birds. _

_ Harry turns back to Ron, reaching out for his friend when hears a rustling in the bushes beside them. Ron and Harry make eye contact, something like fear appearing on his face. At the back of his mind, Harry has to repeat to himself that it’s just regular enchanted birds. _

_ Yet, there’s something at the edge of his mind. A feeling in his gut, telling him that it's something different. Something that's not supposed to be here. _

_ Shoving away the thought, Harry’s hand snaps up with his wand wrapped between his fingers. Glancing at Ron, he notices that Ron had done the same thing. _

_ His gut twisted and Harry’s body stiffens as if it’s aware of what’s going to happen. Instinctively, Harry backed away from the bushes. A moment later, a rainbow of silver, red, and black exploded from the bushes. _

_ The weight of a million birds pushes onto him, causing him to hurtle to the ground. Blinding pain explodes through Harry's shoulder as he hits the ground with a thump. He lays there for a moment, listening to the bird's wings flap around him. Without a faint idea of what’s happening, he hears Ron hiss out, “bloody hell!” _

_ Harry has to agree with him. It's not like every day where you get ambushed by a bunch of enchanted birds. _

_ Harry needs to collect his bearings. His mind is reeling at the moment, unsure of what's happening. If he doesn't right himself, he'll end up being pecked to death by a bunch of birds. _

_ A bad way to go, Harry muses, I survived Voldemort twice yet I die by a bunch of birds. _

_ His wand is somewhere beside him and his glasses are askew somewhere, knocked away from him when the birds attacked. He doubts his glasses would be of any use since his visions taken over by birds. In fact, all he sees is the image of sharp beaks and the beady eyes of birds. _

__

_ Harry lets out a hiss when one of the birds swoops down and attaches itself to his arm. He swings his arm away as pain explodes into his arm. The bird squawks and breaks free. _

_ He can sense it coming back for seconds. As much he loves birds that love human flesh, he can't let them have his flesh. _

_ He thrust his body forward and swings his hand in the process. A satisfying thwack resounds a second later, heard over the noise of the wings. _

_ The satisfying feeling doesn’t last long when the pain starts sprouting from his arm starts climbing up into his chest. Biting his lip to contain a pained yelp, Harry looks around. Ignoring the pain in his chest—and what that could mean—he reaches out with his good hand for his glasses. If they're not eaten by birds is another question though (which he wants to be false). _

_ He finds his glasses—uneaten and in perfect shape—with ease and slides them onto his face. He blinks a few times when notices how many birds are surrounding him. _

_ They’re entrapping him. _

_ Turning his gaze towards his wand, which lays between him and a group of birds, he scowls. He’s good enough at magic to not use a wand, but he doesn’t know if it’ll work. _

_ With a quick glance at the birds, Harry thrust his hand out and says, “Accio wand!” He does the movement with his hand and a moment later, the wand is buzzing through the air. The birds flock away from the airborne object as if it's deadly to touch. _

_ As soon as it reaches Harry’s fingers, his lips are open to say a new spell. _

__

_ Before he can, a sharp pain hits his shoulder blade and he hisses. He glances behind him and his gaze meets a feather poking out of his back. His stomach twists at the sight of it and his gaze lifts upwards, to where birds are hovering above him. One of them has it's head tilted at him. A moment later, the birds let out a scream that sounds like it's mocking him. Like, yeah, I'm the one one who shot you. What are you going to do about it? _

__

_ Harry scowls and turns his attention to the other birds surrounding the mocking birds. Their wings stretch out from their bodies, looking ready to send a volley of feathers-turned-arrows towards him. _

_ On instinct, Harry rolls over as feathers whistle past him and indent in the ground. With a quick tug to the feather on his back, the feather disappears. A moment later, pain explodes through him, causing Harry to let out a gasp. Apparently, pulling out a feather-like-arrow causes excruciating pain. _

_ Who knew? _

_ Ignoring the pain, which subsides to a dull throb, Harry lifts his wand to the armada of birds. His other, injured, arm lays beside him. He's unsure if moving will cause the wound to open more. _

_ The birds in front of him cock their head to the side as if to say, what are they supposed to do? _

_ He doesn’t wait for them to find out on their own. Flicking his wand, Harry shouts, “stupefy!” A blast of red escapes his wand and strikes the birds. A squawk exits two of the birds as they’re sent flying away from him. _

__

__

_ Only to rise a moment later. _

_ “What are these things?” Harry mutters, his eyes widening as the bird's glance at him. _

_ He doesn’t get the chance to think about it because Ron is rushing towards him, saying, “cast a protection spell!” _

_ Harry cast one last look at the birds as he lifts his hand. He looks around as Ron grasps his arm, tugging him away from the birds. Harry catches Percy's eyes, who used a water spell to drown the birds. _

_ "Quick, they're coming!" _

_ "Harry, hurry up." _

_ "Harry!" _

“Harry?”

“Harry!” 

Harry snaps back to reality, jolting away from the tree above him. His back is aching and his heart is racing. His arm where the bird had attacked throbs. Taking a breath of air, Harry takes in his surroundings.

He’s back with Ron and Hermione, hidden under a tree. Gathering his witts, Harry says, “there’s no need to shout.”

“Mate, we called your name four times and you haven’t responded,” Ron says, a lace of concern in his voice.

“Oh,” Harry says, his voice trailing off at the end.

“What’s wrong?” Hermione inquires, her brows furrowing. Harry hesitates at this, would this make me sound superstitious are suspicious?

“I haven’t heard of the birds that attacked us before,” Harry admits to his friends, who glance at one another.

Hermione hesitates, eyes glancing around the area, as if suspicious that someone could be listening in on them.

Wringing her hands together, Hermione turns to them. "When you guys told me what you saw yesterday, I went to the library and started searching for creatures as you described. I couldn’t find anything relating to it.”

Ron raises his brows and says, “we can always ask Hagrid if he knows.”

Hermione hesitates and says, “when you asked what the birds were to Madam Pomfrey, she stiffened. She said that they’re most likely normal birds with enchantments on them.”

“And she could be telling the truth,” Ron says, glancing at Hermione.

Hermione’s gaze snaps to Ron and says, “she obviously knew what they were. What I’m saying is, something seems odd here. Hagrid may be in on it if the Professors were sworn to keep something secret.”

“It’s not like Hagrid hasn’t told something secret before,” Ron mutters under his breath.

Harry frowns at this and says, “we can trust Hagrid. Besides, the transfer students seem to recognize the birds. Perhaps they’re native to North America and that’s why you haven’t heard of them.”

Hermione opens and closes her mouth. “You guys aren’t suspicious?”

_ I am, trust me, but I’d rather have a peaceful year at Hogwarts. Nothing will change that, not even cannibalistic birds. _

Ron sighs and grasps Hermione’s shoulder. “ ‘Mione, we can ask Hagrid. I’m sure it’s some bird we haven’t heard of.”

Hermione doesn’t say anything at first but resorts to saying, “okay. We’ll go now.” It doesn't seem like Ron was able to reassure her, causing Harry to give a sympathetic look at his friend.

She doesn’t wait for the boys to agree with her as she turns and starts walking away. Harry and Ron share a look before scattering to get up. Harry turns and grabs his cloak and robes. He folds them into his hands and places his bookbag over his shoulder. A moment later, he’s chasing after Hermione.

“Why are you suspicious anyway?” Ron inquires once he reaches Hermione.

The witch glances at Ron and says, “well, the girls mentioned they were attacked by Hellhounds. I’ve only heard of them from my time with my parents—never at Hogwarts. They’re from greek mythology and as far as I’m aware, there haven’t been any sightings of them in Britain. Along with that, Jason had a tattoo on his hand and it’s Roman. There’s a connection here and I’m going to find out.”

Ron and Harry share a look as they come upon Hagrids hut.

Hermione steps between them, glancing at the two of them for a minute and knocks on the door. It takes a minute, but the trio could hear someone shifting around. A moment later, the door shakes for a minute before it opens.

Hagrid’s eyes glow for a minute and say, “Yeh're here ter finally talk and ter visit me?” 

Harry feels a blush crawling up his neck and says, “sorry for not visiting sooner, Hagrid. We’ve been busy with school.”

Hagrid raises a brow, amusement on his face and says, “school, eh?”

So Hagrid knew about their tiny adventure into the forbidden forest.

“Yeh might as well come inside ter visit,” Hagrid says, taking the time to move out of the doorframe. The trio glance at one another before walking inside.

Hagrid, as it turns out, was in on the secret with the Professors. Harry isn’t surprised either, since Hagrid is a Professor.

The Professors are hiding something from them, not that they haven't done that before. At the back of his mind, his thoughts say, it's the rogue death eaters. They're most likely trying to break into Hogwarts.

Harry shakes his head, frowning. It has to be something else, and it ties in with the birds, hellhounds, and 'rogue death eaters'. Yet, Harry finds himself not wanting to know what the Professors are hiding. At least for now, that is. A month is all I ask for now.

After talking about school and whatnot, Hermione finally broaches the topic. She shifts in her seat, causing Hagrid to glance towards her.

“Hagrid, since you're the Professor of the Care of Magical Creatures, you can help us with something." Hermione's voice gives nothing away.

Hagrid flusters for a moment as if knowing what Hermione was about to ask. Nonetheless, Hagrid nods his head. “Yeh can always ask me fer help,” Hagrid replies, eyes darting to Ron and Harry.

Harry shrugs in return.

“When Harry and Ron went into the forbidden forest, they were attacked by some birds. These birds had feathers that act as arrows. Their beaks are very sharp too," Hermione says.

"They almost look like crows but they’re bigger and are darker," Ron adds.

Hermione continues as if Ron hadn't interrupted her. "I searched the whole library for information about these birds!” Hermione proclaims, eyebrows drawing together.

“And it seemed like magic that comes from the wand doesn’t affect them! We couldn't stupefy the birds because they didn't react. When they did, they would hit the ground and get back up a moment later. When we used fire charms, like Incendio, the birds would catch fire and fly around as if they were harmed," Ron says.

The room grows quiet for a minute and Harry resorts to playing with the collar of his uniform again.

Hagrid fidgets with his hands for a minute, eyes glancing across the room. After a second of thought, Hagrid says, “'s most likely an enchanted crow or raven. The poor creature could have bin an experiment o' some sort.”

He gives a long look at the wizards and witch in the room. As if asking if what he said was a good enough explanation.

When Hermione furrows her brows and opens her mouth to reply, Hagrid sighs. With a shake of his head, he says, “if 's a magical creature, I hadn' heard o' it before.”

Hermione leans forward, determination in her eyes, and says, “I know that somethings going on! Doesn’t it seem odd that there have been sightings of creatures that didn’t exist before in the forest?"

Hermione glances at Ron and Harry for a minute before continuing.

"Please, Hagrid you have to tell us if something is going on.”

Hagrid looks between the three of them, uncertain. The three of them glance back at him.

He hesitates for a minute and says, “yeh know the hellhounds tha' attacked the las group righ'? yeh know where hellhounds come from?”

Hermione hesitates for a minute and says. “Greek mythology…?”

Hagrid doesn’t respond.

And, somehow, the conversation had shifted after that comment. Obviously, he didn't want to say anything more.

Hermione looked more confused than before, but she didn’t comment.

Harry doesn’t either.

Night comes soon and Harry finds that slumber is calling for him. Blinking, Harry glances around his room, his back pushed against the wall. His fingers wrap around a book he picked up from the library. The librarian—Madam Pince had gotten ‘under the weather’ recently, leaving a substitute in charge—had given Harry an odd look.

Harry doesn’t blame her either, it’s not every day when Harry Potter asked for a book about greek monsters.

Hermione had convinced Harry to get a book about Greek Monsters since they’re popping up.

“Centaurs always existed,” Ron mutters from the bed beside Harry. Harry snaps his attention away from the book and onto the redhead. On the opposite of Ron is an empty bed, where Percy would be right now.

Percy hasn’t returned to the Gryffindor commonplace—and he isn’t in the infirmary either—since Jason disappeared. Harry suspects he knows where the man is, but he wouldn’t mention it to anyone else.

“And what about the Hellhounds or the—whatever the birds are?” Harry asks. Ron doesn’t reply and instead kicks back into bed, slamming into his pillow.

“I dunno, Harry. Hermione’s already knee-deep in conspiracies right now,” Ron says. Harry frowns, eyes moving back to the book in front of him. “With Hermione it’s either she doesn’t believe something is wrong or she believes somethings wrong and tries to find proof for her theory.” 

“Well, what’s one of her theories for now?” Harry inquires.

Ron hesitates and says, “she won’t tell me until she’s gathered all the ‘proof.’”

Harry turns his body so he’s leaning against his pillow, his blanket drawn up to his lap. “Well, I’m going to bed—if you need to look through the book, I’m putting it under my bed.”

“Got it,” Ron replies, his voice going on sleepy.

Harry waits in the darkness, head pressed against the pillow, listening to Ron snore. Then, as he falls asleep, he starts thinking. 

There’s something Hermione is right about—something odd is going on and I need to figure it out before something bad happens. I have a feeling it includes the transfer students.

**Eighth day at Hogwarts**

Annabeth woke to the light coming from her window. Blinking, Annabeth raised her hand in front of her face, blocking most of the sun.

Her body is still warm for when she was sleeping with Percy, who left in the night to go back to his dorm. No doubt, his roommates will be looking for him—or wondering where he is. Plus, it wouldn't look good if the girls found her sleeping with a boy.

Annabeth did her best to comfort Percy. She didn’t think it worked—his face was crumpled when he left. _ I’ll talk to him later _ , Annabeth decides. _ We didn’t have enough time to discuss anything. _

Annabeth gets to her feet, rubbing her head as she does so. Around her, other Ravenclaw girls are getting ready for school, taking time in the bathroom.

“Annabeth can go next,” a voice pipes up, making Annabeth's head snaps up. She gives a short thanks and grabs her uniform and robes.

She enters the bathroom and closes the door behind. As she changes her clothes and brushes her hair, she overhears the Ravenclaws talking to one another.

“Professor Niles is odd, don’t you think?” A voice says somewhere behind the door. Annabeth nearly jumps at the voice, eyes moving to the door.

She pieces her cloak together and brushes her hair out of the way. “Yeah, she seems to be everywhere, watching us,” another reply.

Annabeth stops midway with her brush, her eyes glancing at the door.  _ There’s an insider _ , maybe it’s Professor Niles. She does act odd—and she is a new Professor. She has no bonds to Hogwarts or its students.

Annabeth sucks in her breath and shakes her head to the thought. It’s not like she can corner a Hogwarts Professor and kill or sedate them. People will notice—and she doesn’t want to have the wrong person either.

She has to do her research and have an eye out for Professor Niles, watching what she’s doing. Annabeth cuts the line of thought off by putting an elastic through her hair and pulling it into a ponytail. With a glance at the mirror, Annabeth unlocks the bathroom door and heads outside.

To breakfast.

“Did you hear the news?” Rachel asks Annabeth as they climb the way to the Divination tower. “What news?” Annabeth inquires, glancing at the redhead beside her. It’s hard to look at Rachel with all the books in her hands and with the flight of stairs above them.

Too bad Piper couldn’t join.

“In the newspaper, there was a headline that said ‘ Beware your closest friends, they may not be who you seem with the rise of Imperious curses .”

“Imperious? Isn’t that a spell that makes people do whatever the caster wants?” Annabeth inquiries. “Yeah,” Rachel says. “But in the paper, the Aurors had warned that when the ‘imperioused’ went into St.Mungo’s, they found that there was no spell cast onto him. Apparently, some speculated it was a form of mind control—like occlumency, a form of mind control.”

Annabeth shakes her head, “obviously, it’s not that. It’s gotta be a demi-god, of some sort.”

“Like a daughter of Aphrodite?” Rachel asks.

“Yes—but can their magic stay for that long with that long of range?”

Rachel shakes her head, “The cultists have some high and powerful ties with people.”

“It does seem odd—doesn’t it? They have connections everywhere it seems.” 

Rachel frowns and opens her mouth to say something when they turn the corner and the Divination attic comes into sight. Rachel gives Annabeth a look before going to pull the attic door down. As they head up the stairs, they hear Piper’s voice.

“Yeah—the visions are triggered by something. I can’t find anything in the library about it.” 

“You say you had a dream beforehand. Are these visions of the same thing that are triggers. For example, if there was a fire that triggered your vision, is there a fire in your vision?” Professor Trelawney questions.

There’s a hesitation before Piper says, “yes.”

“Yes, yes, I might have something to solve all your problems. Here—” there’s a movement across the classroom. “Give this to Madam Lavian, the new librarian. She’ll lead you into the private section at the library. There, you’ll find your information, where you might find the help you need.”

“And what if I can’t get rid of my visions?”

“You may have to resort to Occlumency.”


	18. Chapter 17 - Tossing notes in class and how to get away with it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! 
> 
> Quick catch up if ya forgot: Group of girls go out and get ambushed by Hellhounds. Piper isn't able to speak because the wounds are made by Hellhounds and the wizarding magic doesn't work too well on demi-gods. Hazel is put into the Hogwarts sort of ICU because she has chest wounds, causing internal bleeding. Oop.
> 
> Harry, Ron, and Hermione gang up on Hagrid. The Poor soul has to give up some information about the birds and things. Hermione goes to the library to search and Harry and Ron are done with life. 
> 
> Hope this helps :)

Divination went by without a thought—no thanks to Piper, who keeps on passing notes to her and Rachel. If Professor Trelawney saw them, she didn't comment. After all, it's the only way for Piper to communicate with Rachel and Annabeth. If she were to speak; 1) Madam Pomfrey would be alerted. 2) She'd most likely have a sore throat for the rest of the day. If she spoke too much, Madam Pomfrey warned her that she may hack up some blood.

Now, Annabeth is flying down the hall, almost tripping over her cloak and robes in the hurry. Behind her, she can hear Rachel and Piper following. Glancing to the side for a minute, Piper is the closest to her. Her book bag is slung around her shoulder and she has a notepad in her hand.

“Wait—what are you doing?” Rachel says, further behind Piper. Annabeth snaps her head back to the front and says, more in a quick breath, "I have to get a book for potions."

Piper gives her an inquiring look and Annabeth slows her pace so Piper would be able to converse with her. A couple of students give the three girls a wary glance as if they'd start sprinting again.

Piper passes her notepad to Annabeth, a finger tapping the top of the page. " _You have all lunch to do that. You're going to miss class if you go now."_

"I know that," Annabeth responds.

Piper snatches her notepad back and begins to write something down again. Behind them, someone lets out a huff, causing both girls to glance over their shoulders.

Grumbling, Rachel says, "why do demi-gods run so fast? Can't they slow down? It's not like a monster is following them..." Her voice trails off at the end as Rachel places a hand on her stomach.

Piper grimaces as Rachel joins them—her breaths coming out laborious. Piper jots something down on her notepad and passes it to Rachel. She reads and snorts, " _I needed to catch up with Annabeth._ "

Rachel grumbles something under her breath, resulting in a nudge of Piper's elbow in her side. Rachel throws Piper a glance, who's lips quirk up in response.

They descend the Divination tower in silence, aside from the glances three of them share. Annabeth turns to Piper, remembering what she heard earlier in the day. "You're going to the library, right? We can walk together."

Rachel makes a noise of offence. 

Piper scribbles something on her notepad and passes it to Annabeth again. Annabeth glances at Piper before taking the notepad and starts reading it. " _Professor Trelawney said that it may take a month or two to get the book. There's been an extra layer of security or something similar_."

“Are these visions important? I’m sure you can emphasize with the Headmistress how important it is to decipher your visions.”

Piper hesitates and scribbles something else on the notebook. “ _Still…I have this feeling that I shouldn’t tell anyone else. There could be cultists on the inside here working as Professors_.”

_Like Professor Niles._

_Annabeth shakes her head at the idea. There's no proof that Professor Niles is a cultist._

“You’ll figure it out in time,” Rachel reassures Piper.

Piper smiles back in response.

“Guys, I’ve got to go, the library is coming up,” Annabeth interrupts the group, jerking her chin towards the library entrance.

Piper and Rachel share a glance, and Rachel says, “don’t you have class though?”

Piper elbows Rachel in the side. Rachel raises her eyebrows in response, "what?"

Piper jots something down on her notepad for Rachel to read. Rachel giggles in response after reading it.

"What is it?" Annabeth inquires, crossing her arms. She looks between the two of them, demanding an explanation.

Look back up at Annabeth, Rachel rolls her eyes. "She told me that you're wanting to get rid of us and you're making things more difficult .”

Piper glances to Annabeth with a frown, as if to respond, but Rachel tugs on her robe. “Let Annabeth go explore the Library and let her be late to Muggle Studies.” Rachel flashes Annabeth a smile. She nods to Annabeth and says, “I’ll try to make an excuse to Professor Niles if you're late.”

Annabeth opens her mouth to object, feeling her cheeks warm, but Rachel pushes Piper away. Annabeth follows the movement—watching Rachel shove Piper down the stairs. Piper's turning around in protest, jostling Rachel. By the time they reached the stairs, Piper had given up her protest.

Okay, maybe she should have been less upfront about wanting to go to the library. It _did_ seem like she was trying to get rid of them.

It’s too late now.

Glancing once more at the two girls disappearing down the stairs, Annabeth heads towards the library. Dodging Students hurrying to their next class, Annabeth opens the doors of the library and ducks inside. As she enters the two-floor library, the doors behind her close with a resounding _thud_.

“Hello, can I do anything to help you?” A feminine voice chirps as Annabeth walks in. Annabeth snaps her head up, making eye contact with the librarian. Annabeth frown—hesitating—glancing over the woman.

She has to be Madam Pince’s substitute—or apprentice—judging by the fact that the librarian looks like she’s in her early twenties. (Also because she heard the actual librarian was sick).

With Dark brown skin and curly brown hair pulled back in braids, the librarian looks at her. She tilts her head to Annabeth as if expecting a response. _She is._

“Oh, uh,” Annabeth says, stuttering over her words for a minute. “I’m looking for the Potions section,” Annabeth responds, collecting her thoughts. The librarian nods and turns around, hair flying behind her.

“To your left—six sections down.”

“Thanks,” Annabeth says, nodding her head. Her feet start again, heading towards the sixth row of books. “No problem,” the librarian—Madam Khouri from the name on the desk—says, a smile gracing her face.

Annabeth ducks her head as her cheeks warm and hurries away.

As she grows closer to the book section, she overhears a voice muttering. It sounds like an adult and Annabeth frowns, grey eyes landing on the shelf behind the one she's in front of. She’s barely able to see through the spaces on the shelf, but she’s able to make out the form of Professor Niles.

Shouldn't she be at the Muggle Studies class? Why is she here?

She’s not talking to anyone either—which is odd. _You talk to yourself all the time about battle strategies,_ Annabeth chides to herself. N _o need to be suspicious._ Annabeth shakes her head, ignoring Professor Niles's voice, and starts looking through the Potions book.

Her hands slip through the books, eyes lingering on each book title. _Damn, why is it taking so long to find the book I need? It’s almost as if someone’s keeping it from me._

_Why am I even humouring myself with these thoughts?_

Annabeth’s fingers wrap onto her Potions—advanced 1.02—book and takes it out of the shelf. Her eyes glance at the title, reading the _Seventh Year Edition_ and finds herself successful in finding her book.

As she closes her book, she spots Professor Niles come from the aisle behind Annabeth. She speedwalks away, no book in sight. Annabeth, for some random instinct, backs herself into the books. Professor Niles doesn’t notice her as she hurries out of the Library door, cloak flying behind her. Professor Niles and Madam Khouri share a nod as Niles departs, who closes the door behind her.

Annabeth waits a minute before moving away from the bookshelf. With slight hesitance, Annabeth walks towards the aisle, glancing around the bookshelves. All the while, she spots other students leave to go to their next class.

Now feeling pressure to get on with her search, she starts walking faster.

As she turns to the next aisle, feeling silly, she knocks into someone. Annabeth stumbles back, having to swing her arms out to stop herself from falling. She faintly hears a book thump to the floor, followed by a man muttering, “Sorry.” Annabeth goes to repeat the word but stops herself from doing so.

When she looks up to the person who bumped into her, she finds the space in front of her missing. Raising her brows, Annabeth looks around.

She sees is a wave of blondish brown hair and a green-lined cloak moving away from her, heading for the door. He doesn't spare her a glance as he opens the door and leaves. Annabeth glances back at the ground, where she heard a book drop to the ground.

There, the book sits, laid open with a note tucked in it. Quirking her brows, Annabeth glances back to the door where the boy walked out of, then back to the book in front of her.

“Cliche much,” Annabeth grumbles. Glancing back at the book, she starts fighting within herself. Should she take it? Or should she put it back on the shelf and leave? Alas, her curiosity got the better of her, causing her to reach down and grab the book. Picking it up, she reads the note first, which is sticking out from one of the pages.

_Saw Professor Niles looking through it_ — _seems suspicious_

_—G_

_Who the hell is G? Is she supposed to know who that is?_

Frowning, she pockets the note and takes a quick glance at the book. After a moment's notice, she realizes it’s not even a book. It’s a Diary or a Journal of sorts—in the form of a book with a cover and bindings.

She glances back to the front of the book and reads the silver headlines.

_From the notes of a Cultist from the Cult of Compulsion (CCC)._

Annabeth’s stomach flips, eyes widening a fraction. If this relates to the cult they're hunting now or if it's a different cult, it’s still interesting to read about.

She’s startled from her thoughts when she hears a warning bell ring above her. “Damn it,” Annabeth hisses, flipping the book and pushing it into her book bag. She speeds towards the Librarian, who looks up at her as she approaches.

“Do you need anything to sign out?”

“Yeah, this Potions book—for two months,” Annabeth says, handing over the book in front of her. She doubts the Diary-book-thing acted as an actual book here.

Madam Khouri raises her wand and flicks it over the book. A moment later, the protection symbol—for stealing—disappears around the book. It’s replaced with a time charm, which glows around the book like an aura before fizzling out.

“Here you go,” she chimes, handing the book back to Annabeth.

“Thank you,” Annabeth says. Before giving the Librarian a chance to reply, she bolts out of the library and races towards the stairs—towards the Muggle Studies Classroom.

At the moment, her eyes are on Professor Niles as a member of the Cult they’re tracking down. Why else would she be reading this book?

**Ninth Day of Hogwarts**

“Last class of the day,” Thalia announces to the group of demi-gods heading towards the Defense Against the dark arts classroom. Thalia has her arm slung across Reyna’s shoulder, who rolls her eyes at her comment.

“It’s going to be a long hour and a half now that you said that,” Reyna replies, lips twitching. 

Thalia glances at Reyna, a frown on her face and says, “ _nope._ First—” she raises a finger in front of Reyna’s face, almost making Reyna go cross-eyed. “ _Chiron_ is teaching us and two,” Thalia says.

She hugs Reyna closer to her and leans in. Her voice dropping into a whisper, Thalia says, “ _and_ we’re finally getting to summon our weapons. Gods know I miss mine.”

This causes Reyna to snicker and glance back to her other companions.

Annabeth is taking her time behind the group, her eyes moving over a silver-lined book. Thalia had asked Annabeth what it was earlier in the morning—she had shrugged and said “I don’t know.”

Thalia had glanced back to Reyna, who shrugged, “she doesn’t want to tell us.”

"Well, she sounded hella ominous," Thalia grumbles. 

Thalia didn’t seem reassured by Reyna’s response, but it seemed to soothe her curiosity. For now, at least. Reyna has a feeling that when she leaves the two of them together, Thalia will go back to questioning her.

On one side of the two girls, Percy walks beside Annabeth, his emotions kept under a poker face. She remains uncharacteristically silent, eyes darting over the group.

“This a lively bunch,” Thalia says again, causing Annabeth to look up from her book. “Oh, yeah, um, can’t wait for the quiz,” Annabeth says, not at all sound enthused.

Thalia catches a grin spreading across Percy’s face before abruptly disappearing. He takes an arm out and slowly walks backwards, hooking his arm around Annabeth's arm. Annabeth's only response is to pull Percy closer to her. Percy tilts his head towards Annabeth’s, going in to say something ( _private. For no one to hear except the two of them)._

Thalia rolls her eyes and turns back to Reyna, muttering, “lovebirds.” Reyna opens her mouth to respond, a small smile appearing on her face when they turn the corner.

Ron, Hermione, and Harry all glance up at them as they approach the trio. Hermione gives them a once-over before disappearing into the DADA room. Ron enters a moment later, his eyes lingering on the group.

Harry gives a small wave before Ron pulls him into the DADA room.

The demi-gods follow in shortly afterwards, taking their pretty time to walk in. Thalia and Reyna take their usual spot at the front of the class, waving goodbye to Percy and Annabeth. Percy and Annabeth head to the back—where the seats are mostly filled up.

Chiron—Professor Brunner—looks up from his book at the noise. He notices Percy's concerned face and frowns, eyes moving over to Annabeth.

A moment later, as Thalia and Reyna take their seats, the bell lets out a shrill ring. A couple of kids jump at the noise, their eyes flickering to the door.

Professor Brunner waits a moment or so until reaching into his desk, bringing out a stack of paper. Around them, students glance at one another.

“What’s going on?” Thalia inquires, leaning closer to Reyna.

Whispering back, Reyna replies, “ _quiz.”_

“I’m going to ace this one,” Thalia says after a moment. Reyna snorts, rolling her eyes and responds, “you didn’t even study.”

Thalia elbows her and says, “ _shh._ Chiron will give a purposeful bad mark if he heard that!”

“You’re sure of that?”

“Abso—”

Her voice cuts off when Professor Brunner passes them, slipping two pieces of paper onto their desk. He eyes them with a wary glance as if to say; _you’re being too loud._

Thalia gives a sheepish chuckle and moves away from Reyna’s desk. The two girls glance at one another, Thalia biting her lip—wanting to say something. Reyna gives Thalia a _look,_ who waves her hand back at Reyna. Chiron's voice startles Thalia away from her.

“You have thirty minutes to complete your test—Quiz. Once you're done, you are to _quietly_ look through your book until you come across the section regarding how to summon your weapon. For the test, do _not_ ask your friend beside you what an answer is. Do not look at what a person has written,” Chiron drones out. His eyes linger on the demi-gods for a minute, specifically Percy, before glancing to the rest of the class.

“Good luck,” Chiron says.

Thalia looks down at her paper, her eyes skimming the information and multiple choice answers. Almost all look like basic knowledge—to a demi-god, that is. She has enough inspection notes and sheets for the ‘proper handling of weapons’ from Artemis already. _(Why is she the Lietuenenat again)?_

Leaning back against her chair with a resounding thump, she reaches for the quill. A couple of students look up at the noise, their eyes glancing to Thalia’s relaxed form before darting down to their paper.

With a quick scribble, Thalia inks down her name. She watches with satisfaction as the ink goes through the paper and starts spreading outwards. Her eyes drift down to the first question, where the question asks. _Name the four types of materials that conduct magic?_

Below that are four lines. Rolling her shoulders back, Thalia gets to work—a grin spreading across her face. _The easiest test I’ll ever do._

  1. Imperial Gold



2.Celestial Bronze

3.Drakon Bone

4.Stygian Iron

_What is the safest way to use magic with your weapons?_

_How does magic harness these weapons?_

And with that, Thalia’s mind begins to wander. Her hands continue doing the work, the ink sinking into the parchment. Halfway through, Thalia realizes she’s writing in Ancient Greek and she goes to flip her quill around only to realize that there’s no eraser.

Cursing herself—Reyna gives her an inquiring look—Thalia hangs her head back. _It’s fine,_ Thalia reason, _it’s only Chiron whose reading this._

Glancing around the class, Thalia finds that _everyone's_ hard at work. To her left, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley sit beside one another, throwing glances at each other. Harry sits behind them, head laid against the desk, as if in pain.

After a moment of silence filled with the sounds of quills scratching across the parchment, Thalia gets to her feet. Her chair scrapes behind her, causing almost every head to turn towards her. A moment not too soon, Annabeth stands too.

The two girls make eye contact and Thalia grins. Annabeth starts walking forward—to the hand in bin of sorts. Thalia glances at her before taking two long strides towards the desk. With a smirk, Thalia places the test down. Instantly, it disappears from the bin and Thalia jumps.

_Guess I'm not getting that back._

Thalia passes Annabeth on the way back and she elbows the daughter of Athena lightly. Annabeth only rolled her eyes in response.

When Thalia returns to her seat, Thalia eyes the empty desk in front of her. Her brain lags for a moment, trying to remember what to do. To her left, she hears Hermione get up from her seat and stroll over to the Front desk. To Thalia’s right, Reyna joins her.

“What are we supposed to be doing?” Thalia hisses to Reyna once Reyna returns to her desk. Reyna's eyebrows flicked up and she says, “Chiron—Mr. Brunner—just said it before the test.”

Thalia raises an eyebrow and says, “bold of you to assume I was listening.”

Reyna rolls her eyes in response, her lips quirking up. “Said to look for the page on how to summon weapons—and the types of weapons.”

“Do I need to do that?”

“I mean, yes—yes, you do.”

“I already know what my type of weapon looks like! I’ve been using it for the past three years,” Thalia responds, making sure to keep her voice low. She doesn’t need any funny looks from the wizards and witches around the room.

And their cover would be blown.

With a sigh, Thalia leans her head back, eyes darting towards the window. A sunny day—not like two days ago when they stalked off into the woods. Thalia suppresses a shiver thinking amount the time there.

Being in the Forbidden Forest has to be one of her worst experiences dealing with forests. The first one will always be the time she—technically—died on the hill of Camp Half-blood. The Forbidden forest might be second. It’s gloomy and filled with monsters Thalia hasn’t thought exists. There are _giant_ spiders.

Annabeth would love it.

Thinking about it, the daughter of Athena wouldn’t have stepped foot into the forest if she knew what's inside, waiting for her.

Shaking her head, Thalia goes back to reality. Glancing around, Thalia grabs onto her book. With a glance at everyone else to make sure Thalia’s got the right book, she opens it. When she flips it open, the front cover slams onto the table, making Reyna snap her head towards Thalia.

Thalia gives a sheepish smile and turns her head back to the book in front of her. She flips a couple of pages until she finds the heading that says ‘ _Types of Weapons.’_

Below that, Thalia reads the words the subheading, ‘ _Weapons: Long-range’_

Thalia tips her head to the table, already knowing how long the day will be, and starts reading.

* * *

Thalia manages to get to the section called ‘ _weapons: double-bladed’_ before Chiron brings everyone’s attention to him . Thalia peers up at the centaur-in-disguise, relieved and curious. _I don’t think I could do any more reading if I tried._

“Now that everyone has handed in their quiz,” Chiron starts speaking. This brings everyone's head up, eyes zooming in on their Professor. Chiron spins his wheelchair forward, going down the aisles.

“Today, we will learn about how to change your wands into weapons. Do you know why we use these weapons—or _might_ know why we use these weapons?”

No one says anything for a minute—they look at one another, their eyes searching for answers. Behind them, Annabeth raises her hand. Chiron glances once more around the room before saying, “yes, miss Chase?”

Annabeth flounders for a minute before saying, “because it might be easier for some people?”

Chiron takes pity on her and says, “not quite.”

Annabeth deflates.

“Before I get into detail, we all know that your wands act as a conductor for your magic. People can use magic without your wand. It’s you who has the magic. Now, I want you to remember this when we start practicing magic with your weapons.”

Thalia spies some students taking down notes—namely, some Ravenclaws.

“The reason why we can make wands into weapons is that there are certain monsters out there that are not affected by magic coming from wands. Not to mention that weapons can be more powerful then wands in close range combat. Sometimes, people find that weapons suit them better than wands.”

A couple of people glance at one another like _yeah, right._

A Ravenclaw—Padma Patil—raises her hand. Chiron nods to her and she says, “why do we need to use this then?”

“Some of you here might know about the creatures in the woods and the disappearances of some...unfortunate people.” Chiron nods to the group of demi-gods and the trio of Hermione, Ron and Harry. Ron scowls at the desk in return, most likely remembering the incident he had with the birds.

“These creatures are native to North America, which why some of the transfer students may seem equipped with this sort of thing. Now, they’re venturing over to Great Britan and it looks like they’re staying,” Chiron explains.

People steal glances around the room, a look of worry on their faces.

“Now, back to the discussion of weapons.”

Chiron wheels his way back to the front of the class so everyone’s able to see him. “I want to imagine yourself holding a weapon of any kind. If you need help, you can look through the weapons section if needed. Weapons can range from short swords, staffs and even hairbrushes—given the chance, that is.”

In the last part, some of the wizards and witches raise their eyebrows and glance at one another. _Hair Brushes can what?_ Behind Thalia, Percy and Annabeth make eye contact with one another, a grin spread across his face before twitching back to nothing.

“I will give you all the chance to look through the weapons section. Some of you have already seen a weapon in real life and wish to have it. You can, but it is an alternative version of that weapon—not the actual thing.”

Chiron eyes the demi-gods. He says, “the transfer students have already gotten practice from doing this in America, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d get it faster than the rest of you.”

Thalia grins in response, going to picture her bow and arrows from last time. She wants to summon her other weapons, but she has a feeling she’d look suspicious if she has more than one weapon.

She rests her case with a bow in hand and a quiver on her back. She thinks about notching in an arrow, lining it up with a Hellhound and shooting. Good so far.

“If you have your weapon in mind, imagine it with the type of magical material we discussed in class. The weapons are only a conductor of magic if it has the right type of material. It’s the same as a wand,” Chiron explains.

Of course, Thalia’s already done this. She wasn’t even thinking about how, if she weren’t a demi-god, the tip of her arrow being metal instead of celestial bronze.

“Now, I will do the example first. As a reminder, keep the image of your weapon inside your head as you _say_ the spell. If you want to see my wrist movements, I can write it on the board.”

Everyone turns their head towards Chiron, who raises his wand. With a twirl of his wrist, Chiron says, “ _Telum!”_

Thalia watches with wide eyes and Chiron's wand starts to transform in front of her. The wand grows longer and bands, a piece of string coming down from one end and connecting to the bottom half. On his back, a quiver filled to the brim appears.

The room is deadly silent.

“To turn it back, you only need to say ‘ _novis’!”_ On that note, Chiron’s bow and quiver snap back to place as his wand. Chiron glances back to the crowd, brown eyes twinkling.

“Any questions?”

The room explodes with ten million different questions. Some sound suspicious, others sound curious. In return, Chiron carefully answers all of them, his voice steady and calm—something Thalia couldn’t possibly do over the chatter. She’d snap and say, ‘ _Listen here you little shits. You’re going to shut it and practice some archery or whatever you’re into.’_

Yeah…. On second thought, Thalia should never be allowed to become a teacher. Turning to Reyna, who's throwing daggers at the air, Thalia says, “don’t ever let me become a teacher.”

Reyna turns to her, a questioning look on her face, lips quirking up. “Where’d that come from?” Her voice holds a chuckle and Thalia grins in response.

“Just remember,” Thalia says ominously. Reyna, in response, throws her a concerned look.

Thalia’s brought out from her conversation with Reyna when Chiron says, “now go ahead and try summoning your weapons.”

Thalia snaps her head across the room, eyeing the students and they try—and fail to summon their weapons. Thalia gives Reyna a wink before turning back to her desk. Cracking her knuckles, earning an eye roll from Reyna, Thalia brings out her wand.

She swirls her wrist and brings up an image of her bow—which is hiding somewhere in her Hogwarts dorm. “ _Telum!”_

Thalia cracks an eye open and breathes out in relief when she sees her bow and arrows in front of her. “Good to be back with ya,” Thalia says, her voice low to not gain attention from any of the wizards and witches.

To her left, she hears a voice say, “Harry, try to imagine the sword of Gryffindor.”

“ _I am_ ,” the voice, Harry, responds.

“Are you imagining it as one of the magical materials?”

There’s a moment of quiet before a muffled voice says, “no.”

The girl groans, causing Thalia to glance at them. Harry’s eyeing his wand with sick determination, eyes practically going cross-eyed from the force. Harry lets out a breath, closes his eyes and lifts his wand.

He raises the wand and Thalia moves backwards in case the spell backfires and sends a burst of magic towards her. Face puffing for a minute, Harry swirls his wrist and says, “ _telum!”_

Within a moment's notice, the wand explodes from Harry’s hands and grows twice its size. One half of it curves to create a hilt while the other end sharpens and starts glowing.

Thalia has to blink away spots in her vision to see clearly. When she does, an impressed feeling washes over her. A celestial bronze sword appears in the wizard’s hands—an aura of power surrounding it.

“Damn,” Thalia mutters, eyeing the sword.

“Brilliant work Harry,” Chiron says, wheeling his way towards the boy. Harry’s eyes snap open and as soon as Harry takes in the blade in front of him, his jaw drops for a minute. He recovers quickly though, shutting it as Chiron approaches.

Hermione, the girl in front of him, kicks him under the desk. Harry snaps his gaze away from the blade and onto an approaching Professor. Cheeks turning red, Harry sputters out, “thank you, Professor Brunner.”

For a minute, Thalia’s brain lags and she thinks, _who is Professor Brunner?_ A moment later, she mentally slaps herself. _I knew that._

Chiron gives Harry a wry smile as he stops in front of the blade. “My, my,” Chiron comments. “It looks like the sword of Gryffindor.”

“It is—er, well—I based it off of it. I used it once,” Harrys says, floundering. Chiron chuckles and says, “well, it looks like you got it on your first try after correcting yourself—with Hermione’s help of course,” Chiron nods his head towards Hermione, who smiles in response.

Chiron ponders for a minute before saying, “five points to Gryffindor, Mr. Potter.”

A couple of heads turn towards them at the outburst. Harry’s cheeks turn redder and says, “thank you, Professor Brunner.” _He must not_ _be used_ _to getting compliments from Professors or something,_ Thalia reasons.

“Your welcome,” Chiron responds in return.

As Chiron wheels, Thalia turns to Reyna and complains, “how come _we_ didn’t get points?”

“Because,” Reyna says, jabbing the blunt of her spear into Thalia’s foot, “he knows that we can summon weapons. It’s easy for us because we use weapons on the regular.”

“I know, I just wanted to complain,” Thalia says. “It was a rhetorical question,” Thalia adds from Reyna’s glance.

“Now that we’ve got that figured out, what weapons do you think everyone’s got?”

Reyna raises her brows and says, “the demi-gods? If so, I _have no idea._ ”

Thalia kicks her under the desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've made this chapter longer than the last one. Once this is published I should have around 80 000 words.... 
> 
> I have motivation but I can't do anything with it. 
> 
> Hope to publish my next week or the week after that.


	19. Chapter 18 - We meet a guy who's on a cults 'FBI: most wanted' list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in a month! School is something else. 
> 
> Yes, I did change my username. 
> 
> This chapter is important for the future!

Eleventh Day at Hogwarts

September 11th (Thursday), 2011

Leo doesn’t remember how long he’s been flying for. Nor does he know how long Calypso’s been asleep for—draped over his back, sleeping without any sound. Leo thinks she might’ve been dead if it wasn’t for the slow movements of her chests.

Below him, his golden mechanical dragon creaking under his fingertips. "I know buddy," Leo murmurs as  quietly as possible. Eyes dancing over the damage, Leo spies wires sticking out from the dragon's side. As if to somehow calm the flying beast, Leo drifts his hand over the cold metal of Festus, a shiver raking up Leo's spine.

Leo closes his eyes, letting the cool wind breeze past his skin—through his hair, ruffling it. He brings his hands back to tap at Festus's head. 

Festus makes a noise as if responding, tilting his head to the said as if to listen to what Leo wants to say. With a small smile, Leo sighs, “let’s find somewhere to land.”

A moment later, Festus’s body starts to tilt. Its wings fold in and Leo sucks in a breath as Festus descends from the clouds. Leo only hopes that Festus’s eyes are better than his in the darkness of the early morning. He doesn't want to dive-bomb an airplane and causes chaos across the world.

Behind him, Calypso shifts and mutters something under her breath.

“Cal’? You need to hang on,” Leo says, his breath coming in short. He doesn't know if she's awake yet, but he's going to assume she is.

After the incident five hours earlier, Leo had directed Festus upward—into the sky. He woke up some hours later due to the lack of air. They had reached the top of the sky and he could see the sky getting darker the further he looked up. Below him, layers of clouds fold atop one another, hiding the land below. For Leo to realize it was dawn, he had to look to the clouds—where a rainbow of yellow, orange and soft purple could  be seen .

_ How long was he out for? _

Without thinking, Leo had pulled Festus downward—closer to better oxygen. He feared that airplanes would spot them so he settled Festus above some clouds. The least they need is to create an airplane traffic jam. He doesn’t even know if he’s in the Western World anymore since it seems like it’s been hours since he was last awake…

Now, he’s descending from the clouds, making sure not to send him or Calypso flying from the dragon. “This has to be the worst world tour in the history of world tours. I wouldn’t  be surprised if we’re in New Zealand or Australia,” Leo mutters.

“Hmph,” Calypso mumbles behind him. Leo looks back from the front of him—heading straight towards the clouds. Calypso’s head is dug into Leo’s shoulder, her hair whipping around in her braid. It seems to him that she's  slowly turning to consciuouness.  With her white chiton, golden neckless around her neck, dark hair and even darker skin, she looks everything a Titaness would look like .

But, Leo thinks, glancing back at her.  _ I can’t have her looking like this. We’d look suspicious—or they’d think they were heading to a Comicon event. Plus, by my calculations, we should be in school by now. _

“What’s happening?” Calypso murmurs as she loosens her grip around Leo’s chest, pushing herself away from him. Panic surges through Leo for a minute—imagining Calypso falling to her death.

“Wait—!” Leo exclaims, snaking out his hand to grasp onto Calypso. The ex-Titaness lets out a tiny shriek as the air around them threatens to pull her off the dragon. Calypso’s free hand wraps around Leo’s outstretched hand like a vice—not letting go.

“Hold on,” Leo mutters, stiffening as they slam into the clouds. Behind him, Calypso wheezes, trying not to get whatever clouds  are made of in her mouth. After a minute, Calypso says, “why is it  _ wet? _ ”

“Rain clouds,” Leo responds, eyes closed.

Calypso makes a soft noise behind Leo, muffled by Leo’s back.

A moment later, they’re bursting through the clouds, opening up to the sunrise on the horizon and land down below. From there, Leo can see fields of wheat, shielded by the dark night which slinks back as the day grows closer. Through the darkness, Leo’s able to make out a gravel road trailing off into the distance. The path turns right, leading out to a farmhouse and a barn some ways away.

If they go asking, they can get some help. Who wouldn't help two teenagers who fell from the sky?  _ Or they might think we’re aliens from outer space, which won't get them any social points. _

Leo leans down, closer to Festus to the point of feeling metal dig into his skin. Through the wind, Leo shouts, "Cal, you need to hang on. Its going to be a bumpy landing."

Calypso hisses back, “what do you thinks i'm doing?”

Leo sucks in a breath as the air whistles past them and the ground grows closer. Ignoring Calypso, he taps the mechincal dragon head  lightly . “Festus, can you give us an easy landing?”

Festus doesn’t reply, which  is expected .

As the grounds starts to grow closer, Festus’s wings outstretch and it starts tilting to the other side. Leo sucks in a breath as Festus starts circling the ground from far above. Festus seems to be choosing a spot far enough away  as to not  be spotted by the resident farmers.

Below them, the fields of wheat blow to the side as Festu's grows closer, the dragons wings creating wind. At some points, Leo can see some wheat flying from the ground—trying to escape.

Then, Festus stops and Leo's heart skips a beat. At the back of his mind, a tiny voice whispers _ this is what happens when you don't fix your machines! They stop working. _

_ Festus is completely fine,  _ Leo scolds himself. _ The dragon is thinking about what the best plan is to land on the _ —

Festus's body goes slack—it's wings coming to a halt.

"Oh no," Leo mutters, his heart dropping into his stomach. A moment passes and they start to freefall—nose diving for the ground. Behind him, Calypso is screaming. Part of him thinks that he is the one screaming.

Then, the ground gets too close and Leo's squeezing his fingers around the dragon below him. Then, they hit the ground and Leo goes flying.

He slams into the wheat, kicking up dirt as he goes. With a final touch to the ground, Leo's vision goes dark.

* * *

When Leo returned to consciousness, he found himself in a ditch—most likely created by Festus’s landing .  Perhaps he should have landed somewuere before they set off to the ocean again. There was an island nearby where Leo could have fixed the repairs on Festus. I _ t's too late now though _ .

Looking around, Leo’s senses start to return. The smell of an oil leak fills his nose, making shudder. To his ears, everything was numb. A soft ringing sounds accaompanies the throb in his head. Not a great way to start a day with a headache.  _ Concussion, more likely. _

Leo groans and blinks a couple of times. Grime coats his fingernails and hands, his face sticky with mud. Leo groans, and scrubs his hand towards his face without thinking. It takes a minute for Leo to realize that it only made it worse.

Leo blinks once more before glancing at his surroundings. Around him—and Calypso—a golden object circles them, pulling them close. Wires stick out from some panels on the object along with some broken parts, which Leo spies on thr ground.

Wait a minute.

Leo jumps to his feet, dots appearing in his vision. He wobbles a bit as the blood rushes to head. A miute later, he tackles the golden object and shouts, “Festus! Oh no, no.”

Behind him, he hears a thump, followed by a yelp.

“Valdez—!”

Leo winces and turns around. Leo spots the tips of wheat sticking out behind Festus. Behind him, he hears Calypso shuffle around. “I swear if we’re on some deserted island where no one can help us—”

Leo waves her off and says, “there’s a farmhouse a little ways away. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Calypso grumbles something in response, causing Leo to spin back around to her. Calypso’s eyeing Fetus and his thrown apart wires and metal objects. If they were in a cartoon, Leo was sure both Festus and Calypso would have smoke coming out from them.

“What was that?”

“Why couldn’t we land somewhere safer and not wait like five hours to finally land?  Festus was already half-destroyed by the time we escaped the sea of monsters,” Calypso grumbles .

“Well, right now, I’ll put Festus in rest mode and we can go ask the farmers for help. We can say we were hitchhiking and we’re thrown off our way.”

He hears Calypso grumble, "hitchhikers don't create craters." She turns back around, scowling. “They might not speak the same language as us. What use would that be?" 

Leo glances over his head, back to the farmhouse and lets out a sigh. “We’d be getting nowhere if they aren’t.”

“Then let’s hope they know what we’re saying.”

* * *

As it turns out, they were  _ not  _ in a country that spoke English. In fact, the country spoke French (which Calypso had pointed out earlier from a nearby sign). With Festus’s suggested time in the sky, Leo calculates that they landed in France of all places.

Perhaps they can patch up Festus and travel to Britan—where people spoke the same language as him. They might be able to catch an airplane if Zeus allows it.

The two of them trudge down the gravel road, eyeing the farmhouse and sign up ahead. Leo tugs at his suitcase-dragon, hurrying to catch up with Calypso.

“How can you tell that the people here are speaking English?” Leo questions, huffing to catch up to her (hey, who knew a dragon-suitcase would be so heavy)?

Calypso glances behind her, eyes moving from Leo to the suitcase, and then to the air behind him. With a sigh, Calypso sighs and says, “can’t you read what the sign says?”

Leo’s eyes strain to look in front of Calypso—to the approaching farm ahead. There, the road splits off from the main one, turning right. Beside the one turning right, Leo can see a sign that he can  barely make out. Leo scrunches his eyes to get a better and narrowed view but the sign is too far away to see anything significant. _ It's not like I would be able translate what the words mean anyway _ , Leo thinks.

“Uh, do you have super sight or something? I can’t make anything out,” Leo says in response, eyes glancing back to the ex-Titaness. She does have some of her titan powers returning to her, one of them could be super sight.

Calypso huffs, eyes moving back the sign, “are you b—”

She stops mid-sentence but doesn’t stop moving, so Leo supposes nothing  _ that  _ surprising has happened . “What stroke of genius did you get?” Leo mutters under his breath, loud enough for Calypso to hear.

“ I think I do have some magic left in me.”

_ No,  _ _ really _ _? _

“I told you, your magic wasn’t about to _magically_ disappear.”

Leo frowns for a minute before saying, “no pun intended.”

Leo can see the scowl on Calypso’s face setting in. Leo only chuckles in response to the scowl growing on her face. “Well, if you can make out that it’s French, can you speak it?”

“I didn’t take language classes back on my Island,” Calypso grumbles. Leo could sense that its taking everything in her not to make a sharp retort.

Leo grins and starts speaking but stopswhen Calypso stops mid- stride. Leo stops abruplty when he slams into Calypso's back. A muffled gasp escapes Leo, along with a yelp from Calypso as she trips over Leo's sudden weight.

“Leo—”

With a resounding thud, they collide into the ground. Around them, pebbles that marked that gravel road rolled away from them at the impact.

After a minute of complete silence, Leo begins to speak once again.

“Ouch,” Leo hisses, touching his wrist.

“If you think that feels bad,” Calypso seethes from below Leo. As if remembering who he's laying on top of, Leo immedielty shifts off of her. “Oops—”

Leo stands up, taking out his hand to help Calypso out. Out of the corner of Leo's eye, he can spot his suitcase sitting on the side, laying some feet away from them. Leo makes a mental note to remember picking it up after helping Calypso. will pick up after. Calypso  reluctantly takes Leo’s hand with a frightening grip and pulls herself up.

“Why did you trip into me?”

“Uh, Cal, you stopped in the middle of half-jogging. You didn’t look like you were planning on stopping either.”

“I—” Calypso glances around the field, suspicious. “I felt like there was  _ something  _ watching us,” she says.

Leo rubbed his neck and says, “I don’t know if monsters would go over a continent for food that may not exist.”

“I’m sure that gods like to travel,” Calypso responds  sharply , eyes snapping to a spot behind Leo. "I remember Apollo visiting my island once in a blue moon and he loved to tell me about the world tours he did. He introduced this by giving a Tarturas cursed Haiku and gods did I want to throttle him—"

She stops herself before she could continue that sentence. Taking a deep breath, she starts again, this time glancing around the wheat field. After a moment of suspicon, she glances behind Leo.

“There,” Calypso says, jutting her chin towards the direction. Leo spins around, feeling around his pockets for a potential weapon. He can’t  really say that any of his weapons remain after the incident in the Sea of monsters—but it’s a try.

He finds his pockets empty.

“It looks like it's up to fireboy and wind girl to save the day,” Leo mutters to himself.

“What?”

“It's a joke about this game on—Nevermind.”

Calypso narrows her eyes to Leo and says, "what does that mean?" Leo ponders responding to her. Wondering if the conversation would even go somewhere. Before Leo could decide, Leo hears something shifts in the field of wheat. Leo spins around, eyes darting to a temporary dent in the wheat, which soon goes from a dent into a trail.

_ Getting closer to them. _

“Get away from the fields—they’ll try to jump us.”

Calypso rolls her eyes and says, “I know  _ this.  _ Hopefully , some of my magic will recover so I can help fight the monsters off. It’s not like we have any weapons left.” She glances  pointedly at Leo, who winces.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re never going to let that down, are you?”

Calypso's lips twitch, eyes shining with a new light.  _ Yes, targeting Leo is my favourite past time. _

Leo turns back to the field in time to see a giant spider come flying towards him, its torso raised by its legs. Leo's mind is only shock, which makes his mind unfilter for a brief second. “What the actual F—”

He slams to the ground, shock coursing through his body, stunning him to stillness. Underneath him, pebbles of rock bite into skin, reminding him that he's still alive.

Since when were there giant spiders? He thought he was in a Country called France,  _ not  _ Australia. Most of all, why hasn't he  been informed of a new type of spider spieces? His attention goes back to the oxygen deprieving creature on top of him.

Leo struggles under the weight of the giant hybrid spider, his lungs too busy expanding. His body, in response to the lack of air, starts seizing. His mouth opens, begging for a bit of air that might be around.

Leo’s eyes are spotty, leaving him to his sense of impaired hearing and feeling to defend himself against the spider .

Above him, somewhere off in the distance, Calypso lets out a curse—he catches the name  _ Athena  _ it.  Perhaps it was ‘ _ why couldn’t Athena leave her arrogance alone and not challenge her to weaving competition _ _?” _

Leo mentally slaps himself,  _ focus on the giant thing trying to kill you! Not to what Calypso's saying! Get your head in the game! _

Man, Leo's out of it today. It might have to do with the concussion. Wait, what happens if he gets two concussions? Do they cancel each other out? Hmm...

The spider punches its leg into Leo's gut, making him let out a strangled gag. Leo's eyes flicker back to the spider in front of him and his body regains control of its mucles. The spider, in return, lifts another leg up to strike Leo again.

Leo lifts his hands up, stopping the spiders attack with his hands. With a low huff of air, Leo’s free hand ignites into flames. He squeezes his eyes closed, imagining the spider going up in flames.

He punches the spider with his free hand—going straight into its torso. A moment later, the spider lets out an unholy screech and the weight lifts from Leo’s body.

Leo lets out a wheeze, his mind buzzing from the rush of air appearing in his lungs.  His gaze move towards the spider's location, finding it running away back into the wheat, its body aflame . It takes a minute for Leo to register that the monster didn’t disintegrate to return to Tarturas.

_ Odd. _

Leo gets to his feet, much to his body’s displeasure. He whirls around, expecting Calypso to be watching. His mouth is already open for a quick retort to her, something along the lines of _thanks for the help. It's not like I was going to become a Leo sandwich or anything._

Instead, Leo comes to see Calypso with her hands up—a protective barrier made of wind surrounding her as the spiders try to edge forward . By the looks of it, Calypso won’t be able to hold on much longer.

With a sigh, Leo produces another flame—his hand sparking alight. A couple of the giant spiders glance towards him and he finds  multiple beady eyes staring at him. Then, their head turn towards the flame in his head. Almost in unison,  all of them turn around from Calypso and start heading towards him.

He throws the flame towards the nearest one, which manages to avoid it with a slight swerve. “Now, now—”

Leo starts backing up, back heading towards the wheat field. “There’s no need for a fi—”

A spider lets out a hiss that Leo is so sure should belong to a spider.

“Easy now?  Maybe you guys want a treat that’s not human flesh? Hmm. What do giant spiders like to eat?”

It hissed.

“I don’t understand.  Maybe you guys speak French? Uh…. Je m’apelle Leo—”

One of them leaped for him and Leo yelps, “I didn’t know my French was  _ that  _ bad.” He scurries away, eyes moving to Calypso, who  slowly backs away from the spiders. The two of them make eye contact and she shakes her head. He glances away from instead, going back to the problem in front of him.

Leo goes to summon another flame when he hears another person speak.

“Trust me, you would have sounded terrible if continued that sentence," came an amused voice to Leo’s left. The voice had an Irish lilt to it, but not too much—as if they haven’t been to Ireland in awhile.

Before Leo could turn his head to see who it is, the person produced something from their pocket. Leo’s mind started thinking, once he saw what is was,  _ who has a stick  _ _ randomly _ _ laying around in their pocket? _

A moment later, Leo finds out why.

An explosion of white erupts from the end of the wand and blasts into the nearest spider, incinerating it  instantly . The reaction of the other giant spiders is immediate. They take off running in all directions, as if afraid of the zap stick. (Leo doesn’t blame them.  What would he do if one of his friends vanished off the face of the planet after someone zapped them with a magical stick) ?

A moment goes by, both Calypso and Leo stunned into silence.  Their eyes glance to the disappearing spiders, then to the mysterious figure—who covers themself with a cloak . After a moment, Leo regains his senses and says, “ _ what the fuck?” _

The magic stick wielders tilt their head to the side—almost making it look comical. “I’m the owner of the house back there,” the voice—male—says, jerking his hand towards the farmhouse.

On a closer look, the farmhouse looked run down—like when you went out driving (in Leo’s case; flying) and looked at decaying farm buildings that  were left to rot .  _ Abandoned. _

“Looks like you haven’t been paying any of your housing bills recently,” Leo remarks, eyes moving back to the figure in front of them . To the side of his vision, Calypso’s lifts suitcase-Festus and starts moving towards Leo.

The man laughs in return—something deep and rich, reminding him of some of the gods he met in Athens while defeating the Giants . “It’s a glamour to hide,” the man explains, bringing his hands out from the folds of his cloak. Once again, Leo catches on to the sight of the stick.

He makes a quick glance at Calypso, who gives a stiff nod in return. “What… exactly is that? What you're wielding in your hand?”

For a brief moment, Leo catches the man stiffen—and Leo’s spidey senses are kicking in. He balls his fist for a minute, feeling the licks of fire at his palm. If this person is dangerous… it’s best for Leo to be on guard. Especially since the wand seems to be able to kill people on command.

The man seems to notice Leo’s hesitance and raises his free arm, allowing Leo to see the red mark and the Latin word for  _ Joker _ _. _

“You guys aren’t wizards or witches then,” the man amends, glancing between the two of them. At the blank stares and Calypso’s mumble of ‘ _ what are wizards?’  _ the man lets out a sigh. “Good, I was thinking about whether to help you are not. Looks can be deceiving, you know? Especially since  _ he  _ seems to know all (and has people everywhere waiting for his call).”

“Wait… you can drop knowledge bomb after knowledge bomb right now,” Calypso says, crossing her arms . “First of all… Wizards and witches? A man who knows all? And a Latin word for Jack? What’s going on here and who are you?”

The man seems to hesitate at this, eyes peering around. “We can’t talk here—come with me to my, er, house.”

“Can we trust him?” Calypso says, turning her towards Leo, making so only he can hear. Leo eyes the mysterious man, who’s already walking back towards the house.

“I’d rather talk to him than with a French person. It’s sort of hard to talk to someone who can’t speak the same language. You know?”

Calypso lets out a weary sigh and says, “ _ fine _ .”

* * *

“How come you don’t speak French? Like,  _ mon Ami, La baguette _ ?”

The man raises an eyebrow at Leo as they enter the not so rundown house.  Leo leaves Festus at the stairs leading to the second floor and takes a seat in the kitchen, where a window outlooks Leo’s crash zone .

The floor  is polished wood, along with the table but the kitchen walls are all tiles with a chandelier hanging from the top of the ceiling . “I’m going to ignore that comment for the sake of all French-speaking people out there,” the man says.

The man heads to a cabinet and opens a wooden door, glancing over his shoulder to Leo and Calypso. “I didn’t catch your names,” he offers.

“We didn’t give it,” Calypso cuts in before Leo can. With narrowed brows, Calypso says, “tell us some stuff before we can give information to you.”

The man hesitates and Calypso snaps, “you haven’t even taken your hood off yet!”

The man stops in his tracks and Leo can almost see the sheepish look on the man’s face. “It’s a force of habit,  really .” With a flick of his stick, his hood is off, revealing a man in his early thirties. Dark brown eyes, dark hair pulled up in a man bun and to finish the look—a  nicely trimmed beard.

What shocks Leo the most is the three claw marks down the man's face—his cheek looking like a battlefield.

Wringing his hands together, the man looks around and spies a tea kettle. He  quickly goes to turn it on. While doing so, he says, “you can call me Klaus for now. I live in a society with Wizards and Witches. Humans with magic  basically . It started off when Hecate gifted twenty-eight humans magic to bring her torch back. Of course, most wizards and witches don’t know about greek gods existing. They  just thought we came into existence.”

“So...like Gandalf or?”

“Whose Gandalf?”

“More like Merlin actually. Did you know he was real?”

“Whose Merlin?”

“Holy Hades! Merlin is real?”

“Yeah.”

“Who are they?”

“Gods—so that stick you have is a wand?”

“What’s a wand—?”

“Yeah. Some people don’t even have to use—”

“Guys!” Calypso  practically shouts, causing both males to look at her. “So, let me get this straight... Humans with magic exist which  were gifted down from Hecate after a quest. You can use wands to help use magic?”

“ Basically ,” the man sums up. “There’s some other stuff, such as minging with muggles—or as you call them,  _ mortals _ .”

“What?”

“There are three different types of wizards and witches. One, Muggleborn. These are people with muggle parents who were born with magic. Half-bloods have one muggle parent and one magical parent. Purebloods originate from the first twenty-eight that  were sent from Hecate’s quest. They didn’t mingle with muggles at all.”

“Wow.”

“Wouldn’t that mean there would incest somewhere down the line—?”

Calypso glares at Leo, who gives her a slight shrug.

The man—Klaus, Leo thinks—chuckles and says, “ maybe . It’s best  just to forget  _ that  _ part of it.”

“Wait,” Calypso says, turning back to Klaus. “You said ‘most wizard won’t know that.’ How come  _ you  _ know that?”

Klaus sighs and leans back at the counter, rubbing his temples. “This ties in with the fact that I’m in hiding and  _ him _ . It’s a long story if you’re willing to listen.”

Calypso and Leo share a look and Leo says, “go ahead, man. We’ve had a crazy week, especially after escaping the sea of monsters.”

Klaus gives them a pitiful smile and says, “you’re a long way from home then.”

Calypso’s eyes narrow and say, “can we get on with it?”

Klaus glances to Calypso, lips quirking up—as if finding Calypso impatience amusing. He lifts his arm from his cloak, revealing the red word  _ Jack.  _ “We get these after joining the upper part of the cult that I was apart of,” he explains.

“You were apart of a cult?” Leo says, brows raised. “What type? The hippie one or—”

“The sacrificial one. Since I was what the Latin can translate to, Jack, I didn’t have to kill anyone.”

Leo opens and closes his mouth—surprised. Calypso takes the lead instead and says, “who were sacrificing to?”

Klaus rubs his hands as the kettle behind him grows louder. “A Primordial god. I made a blood binding oath with the leader to not say  _ who,  _ since I’d risk instant death if I did.  We’ve been getting rid of people for hundreds of years, their blood and power going towards the god we’re trying to bring back .”

“The god must be powerful if you go around killing people for centuries,” Calypso acknowledges .

Klaus scratches his head and says, “because of the latest Wizarding War, we were able to snatch more Wizards and Witches since the Death Eaters were killing them too .”

“Death Eaters?” Leo finally utters out.  _ What the hell is going on in Europe? _

“Followers of Lord Voldemort—the leader of… nevermind. That’ll take too much time,” Klaus mutters off.

“Who's the leader of this cult, then?”

“I can’t give his name but the one’s outside the higher-ups refer to him as Scurra and we refer to him as the Seer. He’s able to see  multiple futures and take action from them. He can control people by putting subtle suggestions in their minds. Not to mention that he ages  slowly because of who his  godly parent is…”

“Wait a minute..” Leo clears off. “This wizard is also a demi-god?”

Klaus bows his head, “you can imagine how strong he is then. He’s been alive for a long time and he looks  barely aged. He’s built up a following because of his powers until he managed to create an army. He says he had gotten orders to destroy the gods by bringing his parent back to life.  Apparently , a god  is supposed to be rising soon.”

Leo and Calypso share a look and Leo says, “do you know who the god is by chance?”

“I do,” Klaus offers, “alas, I’m bound by the blood oath I made. At the moment, I’m  being hunted because I deserted the cult. You can’t exactly stay with me..”

“I need to get my baby fixed,” Leo says, gesturing to the suitcase. “Can we stay put until we do?  Maybe I and Cal can try to find a way to stop this god from rising.”

“The cult  is centred around Britain and I’m certain that your friends have already  been sent to help. There’s been transfer students at Hogwarts—a school for witches and wizards to learn magic.”

“I don’t understand why the gods  just don’t get rid of the cult,” Calypso mutters.

Klaus chuckles at this and says, “the gods don’t know that the population regrew after they went on genocide to get rid of us . That’s the reason why the cult was eager to destroy the group of gods.”

Leo’s jaw  nearly dropped. “Genocide? The gods?  All of them?”

“No..” Klaus's face squeezes  slightly . “Not  all of them… but enough to make them complicit in the act.”

“Damn,” Leo mutters.

“I don’t know why you’re so surprised,” Calypso mutters. “They did the same to us.”

“You  literally tried killing them first.”

Calypso opens her mouth to counter Leo but Klaus butts in. “Does anyone, by chance, want some tea or hot chocolate?”

Somehow Leo slips off the trainwreck of a conversation and nods. “I’d loved some hot chocolate please.”

Calypso scoffs  slightly but sighs. “I’ll have some tea…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you see the threads connecting to one another? 
> 
> Also, I'm not planning for Leo & Calypso to be a thing. I couldn't really see it happening, especially since Leo's still a minor and Cal...well... is old to say the least.


End file.
